Rugby veterans and officials gather at Whitehall Rec to hold small but heartfelt Remembrance ceremony

The event was smaller than usual this year, but all present agreed it was still very moving.

A small number of Rugbeians gathered together just before 11am today, November 8, to hold a small but heartfelt ceremony for Remembrance Sunday.

The service was led by Rugby Rector Edmund Newey, with Cllr Tom Mahoney - himself an Army veteran of operations in Northern Ireland - giving a poignant reading of the poem For the Fallen by Laurence Binyon.

A musician from the Salvation Army then gave a haunting performance of The Last Post to mark the beginning of the two-minute silence.

Reverend Canon Edmund Newey led the ceremony.

Wreaths were laid at the memorial gates by Rugby Mayor Cllr Bill Lewis, Dr Eric Wood and Rugby MP Mark Pawsey.

For Reverend Canon Edmund Newey, who became the new Rector of St Andrew's in July, this was the first Remembrance event he has led.

He said: "One of the things I enjoy about being the Rector of Rugby is the involvement in civic events and the wider community.

"Opportunities to gather together have been pretty restricted this year and this is reflected in Remembrance.

A musician from the Salvation Army attended to play The Last Post.

"Over the last few years attendance at Remembrance ceremonies has grown and this year it is a real sadness that people cannot gather together.

"But for those here today, and for those who were able to watch the ceremony on the internet, it's been great to be able to come together as a community to remember.

"Just at the beginning of the second lockdown, today is a way for us to come together and think back to the hardships that those who came before us suffered - and to put the hardships we face now in a wider context.

"In times of adversity we can look at the names on this memorial and remember all they went through."

Rugby mayor Cllr Bill Lewis lays a wreath at the gates.

Rugby MP Mark Pawsey said: "Those who attended this year followed all of the rules and it was still a very moving event."

Rugby Mayor Cllr Bill Lewis said lockdown measures made the ceremony very different this year, but he thought it was still very moving.

He added that he wished to remind Rugbeians that a 'boom' will be heard from Caldecott Park at 11am on November 11 to mark the beginning of the two-minute silence.

The park will be sealed off and Rugby council will sound off an electric boom which should be heard in much of the town.

You can view Rugby council's full recording of today's ceremony by clicking here.