They may not be dancing in the aisles, but a group of Morris men will be helping the new Mayor of Ledbury celebrate during his Civic Service in St Michael’s Parish Church on June 22.
Councillor Keith Francis was installed as Mayor on May 8 – the second time he has held the position of the town’s leading citizen – and has chosen close friend Gill Pitt as his Mayoress.
“I want my civic service to be a celebration with the community, so I have invited both Ledbury Primary School and John Masefield Seconday School to attend, as well as dancers from the Silurian Border Morris Men group.
“There will be English hymns and music from English composers and singing by the Ledbury Community Choir, and I have invited Lt Commander Paul Russell, captain of HMS Ledbury, to the church to celebrate the ship’s latest battle honour won during its most recent tour of the Gulf.
“The award will take up the last space on St Michael’s honours board”, said the Mayor.
He recalled how during his first spell as Mayor he was among those to attend a picnic, organised during a visit by the Queen to Herefordshire, when she also met a group of local farmers among those hit by the foot and mouth outbreak the previous year.
“I will also be renewing the town’s contact with HMS Ledbury before the civic service, when I will be among a group to visit the ship at Portsmouth and to take a trip out to sea on Wednesday, June 4.
“I have been to sea with the ship before when it was on exercise. HMS Ledbury is a Hunt Class minesweeper, and was originally named after the Ledbury Hunt, which will also be represented when we next visit her”, he said.
The Mayor is hoping the ship’s officers and crew will be able to visit Ledbury and stay overnight on June 18, when school visits and a friendly football match should be on the itinerary.
And one dry land event the Mayor is keen to support is a Skateboard Competition and Graffiti Course being held at the town’s Skateboard Park in the Recreation Ground on the morning of Saturday, May 31.