Beacon celebrating 'light of peace' lit in Newport for D-Day 80th anniversary
A beacon celebrating the 'light of peace' was lit at a special ceremony to mark the 80th anniversary of D-Day.
Newport and District Agricultural Society and Harper Adams University held the ceremony at Chetwynd Deer Park on Thursday.
Designed by the university's engineering students, the beacon was originally designed to celebrate Queen Elizabeth II’s Platinum Jubilee.
It was one of hundreds of beacons and lamp 'lights of peace' which were lit across the country at precisely 9.15pm to commemorate D-Day.
Newport and District Agricultural Society's president, Duncan Gunn-Russell, read an International Tribute as the beacon was lit.
His Majesty’s Lord-Lieutenant of Shropshire, Anna Turner, attended the ceremony, as well as the High Sheriff of Shropshire, Brian Welti JP, and representatives of the Newport and District Agricultural Society and Harper Adams University - including engineering students and alumni who operated the Beacon.
Invited guests and family members of those affected by the Second World War or D-Day also attended the event, including the chief cattle steward of the Newport Show, Andrew Macleod, whose father was among those soldiers who took part.
Newport and District Agricultural Society president, Duncan, said: "I’d like to thank everyone, from the Society, Harper Adams, and the wider community, who organised or attended the event.
"The evening was one of remembrance, celebration, and commemoration – and it was quite something to think, at the very moment I read the International Tribute, that hundreds of others were doing so at the same time, as beacons were lit across the country."
Harper Adams University's Vice-Chancellor, Professor Ken Sloan, added: "In a world in which, sadly, we remain affected by war, we should remember the sacrifices of all those who took part in D-Day and the Second World War, and I was honoured that Harper Adams employees and students were among those involved in the celebration."
