Families soak up the sun at Lichfield Bower festival
THOUSANDS made the most of the bright sunshine and descended on Lichfield for the city’s ancient annual Bower festival.
The carnival, which dates back to the 12th century, got underway as it always does with the Mayor of Lichfield, Councillor Terry Thomas, crowning this year’s Bower Queen Kate Chaplin, and the cutting of the bower outside the Guild Hall at noon yesterday.
Moments later a procession, containing an array of marching bands, parades and colourful floats all collecting for local charities, was led from Cherry Orchard and through the city’s streets by the Green Man Morris and Sword Club. Among the star attractions in the procession were the Band of Brigade of Gurkhas, one of the British Army’s largest bands, who followed the Green Man Morris and who were cheered fervently on every corner in the wake of their recent victory over the government.
Spectators were giving the Gurkas a rousing reception in the wake of a decision by Home Secretary and Redditch MP Jacqui Smith to allow veterans to settle in the UK.
The U-turn means some 36,000 soldiers from the Nepalese regiment, who fought alongside British troops in conflicts the world over, can now reside in the UK despite having retired before 1997.
Rosemary Smith, from Whittington, near Lichfield, said: “I’m very much for it. I’m really pleased they’ve allowed them to stay.
