Nothe Fort hosts Armistice Day Remembrance service

The event took place on Saturday, November 11 to honour all those who have sacrificed their lives in war.

The day started with the playing of the Last Post before canon fire marked a minute's silence. A rendition of the national anthem was then performed by the Bovington Military Wives Choir before they sang more songs ahead of the mayor's arrival. 

Thousands of poppies were made from recycled plastic bottles (Image: Andy Jones)

Weymouth’s mayor Cllr Kate Wheller then officially unveiled the poppy display that was created using recycled plastic bottles.

Cllr Wheller said: “It is a wonderful setting. I love coming here I use to play here as a child as I lived here near the Nothe as it was a working fort then, so it brings back happy memories.

“They have done such a wonderful job here."

The canon was fired twice during the Remembrance service (Image: Andy Jones)

Thousands of poppies adorned the grassy bank inside the fort which were meticulously created by volunteers.

Jackie Waters was one of the volunteers who had donated her time to help create the stunning display which involved cleaning, cutting and spray painting the bottles to create the poppies.

She said: “We had loads of volunteers at different times, we had volunteers from the Scout group and different community groups.

"People from the highways from the council came down and did a day – it’s a big community effort really and the volunteers here have coordinated it.”

The fort was filled with people watching the service (Image: Andy Jones)

Emma Murtgatroyd is the events manager at Nothe Fort and she has been busy bringing all the elements of the day together and spoke of the fort’s thinking behind the event.

She said: “It’s been created for over two years by Nothe Fort volunteers; there is about over 3,000 poppies and some of them have been named as a special dedication from our visitors which has been nice.

“We wanted to do something for Remembrance Day as a lot of our volunteers are ex-military, so it means a lot to them, so we thought it would be fitting."

Volunteers Jackie Waters (left) and Tracey Chevis (right) with Weymouth mayor Cllr Kate Wheller (Image: Andy Jones)

Steve Vaughan from Portland is a member of the Buglers Association - which is made up of ex-servicemen - and performed the Last Post.

He went on to explain how he got involved in playing the bugle and how the nationwide association came to be.

He said: "I learned to bugle in 1971 in the army and I left in 1978 and didn’t touch it for 40 years.

“Then one of the guys I used to serve with went through the ranks from private to colonel of the Gibraltar garrison and he suddenly died of a heart attack.

“They had a big funeral and a lot of the buglers got together and played it. After getting together we set up the association from there.”

As the service got underway, what looked like to be a Spitfire flew overhead, however, this was not something that was organised by the fort and seemed to be just a fitting coincidence.

The fort has recorded record numbers of visitors in the last two years (Image: Andy Jones)

Nothe Fort chairman, James Farquharson, added: “We didn’t organise that Spitfire but it was a great touch.

“We just want to make things a little better each year and this year has been better than last year.

“It’s a good space for the town to do commemoration like this; it is great to see so many people here."

After the service had finished and the mayor had official opened the display a series of workshops from the Sea Cadets took over the fort including how to make a poppy brooch. 

For more information on Nothe Fort you can visit them online at www.nothefort.org.uk