People and communities
Walsall lights up the night sky for The Queen
Published on
Walsall took part in the national lighting of beacons to celebrate Her Majesty The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee.
Hundreds of people gathered at Barr Beacon in Walsall on Thursday evening to see the lighting of a beacon to mark Her Majesty The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee.
Before the main event, the crowd was entertained by the City of Birmingham Brass Band who used the site’s iconic war memorial as their stage. It was a perfect backdrop.
The beacon was lit by Deputy Lieutenant David Frost CBE,DL, The Lord Lieutenant’s Cadet, Matthew Fowling was also in attendance.
“ Over 3,500 beacons were lit across the UK and The Commonwealth.
The lighting of the Beacon tonight was a real success, reflecting the huge changes that have taken place in Walsall over the last 70 years. It has been a tremendous achievement here at Barr Beacon and it has done Walsall proud.
It’s been wonderful to see the community groups in Walsall all brought together to celebrate. “
“ I had a wonderful time at the beacon lighting event at Barr Beacon last night, which was part of the National Lighting of Beacons event to celebrate Her Majesty The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee. What made the evening extra-special was that the vast majority of people invited to attend were volunteers and representatives of community and other third sector organisations across the borough. These amazing people are truly the backbone of this borough and the people of Walsall would be lost without all that they do. “
“ It was great to see this event take place at Barr Beacon, a place generations of Walsall families have and still do held dear and it’s surpassed all expectations.
Although we’re still living with COVID, the Jubilee and the wish of our communities to come together to celebrate feels like we’re perhaps drawing a line under the worst of the pandemic and moving on to a new normal. “
The event concluded with a fireworks display which would have been visible many miles away given Barr Beacon’s height above sea level.
The National Lighting of Beacons marked the start of the official long weekend of celebrations and Walsall’s communities have really out-done themselves with a multitude of community-led events, both large and small, taking place across the borough.
~ENDS~
Note to Editor
Barr Beacon is a local nature reserve and the site of an iconic WWl war memorial. The site is owned by the Barr Beacon Trust and managed under a stewardship arrangement by Walsall Council.
