COMMUNITIES in south Shropshire have taken part in services of Remembrance.

This was a special weekend of Remembrance at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month which also occurred in the 11th year of the new century.

In some of the bigger towns, large numbers of people gathered while in the smaller villages and hamlets, fewer people were present. But for all of them, the significance of the event was equally as poignant.

A Ludlow churchyard was the place for a very special ceremony of remembrance.

It has become a tradition that the short but poignant service takes place on the Saturday before Remembrance Sunday.

St Leonard’s Church, off Corve Street, stopped being a place of worship many years ago and is now home to a Ludlow printing company.

But the graves in the churchyard remain the resting place for many people from Ludlow. Five of these are war graves that were the focus for the remembrance.

Ludlow’s mayor John Aitken was one of the people who paid their respects to the five people who died in the service of their country and lie in St Leonard’s Churchyard.

Meanwhile, long service awards have been made to Poppy Appeal volunteers in Craven Arms.

The chairman of Craven Arms Town Council Clive Leworthy awarded long service poppy collection 25-year certificates to Kathy Berry and Louise Wadsworth and 15-year certificates to Jill Bound and the Cyril Bason Shop.

􀁥 Mullock’s of Church Stretton is holding an auction at Ludlow Racecourse today (Thursday) that includes photographs showing the aftermath of the evacuation from Dunkirk. They were taken by a German soldier, kept in a family collection and have not been seen in public before. The sale starts at 1pm.