VILLAGES and town centres will fall silent across Brecon and Radnorshire this weekend to mark Remembrance Sunday.

This year the commemorations will have added poignancy because 2018 is also the centenary of the armistice that ended World War I.

At 11am on November 11 1918 the guns finally fell silent on the Western Front as well as other theatres of war. The Great War had lasted four years from 1914-18 and seen thousands of brave men from Brecon and Radnorshire join the many millions who died in the conflict.

The war will be remembered for historic battles and campaigns such as Ypres, The Somme, Paschendaele, Flanders, the Marne, Verdun, Gallipoli and many more.

The slaughter was horrific and three years later the red poppy was adopted as a symbol of the sacrifice of Allied military men and women because it was the first flower that grew up out of the churned up battlefields.

Today those poppies have also come to symbolise the sacrifice of the men and women who laid down their lives in subsequent conflicts, such as WWII, the Falklands War, the two Gulf Wars and the campaign in Afghanistan.

In Brecon at 11am on Sunday there will be an annual Remembrance Parade in the town centre with poppy wreaths laid at the Cenotaph at St Mary’s Church. In the evening the town council will be joining in the nationwide Battle’s Over commemoration with an event at the bandstand on the Promenade.

It will commence at 6.15pm when the RAF St Athan ensemble will play, followed by Brecon Male Voice Choir and pupils from Christ College.

At 6.55pm buglers will sound the Last Post at more than 1,000 locations across the United Kingdom, Channel Islands, the Isle of Man and many countries, including New Zealand, Ireland, Australia, Bermuda, France, Belgium, Canada, the United States and Germany. At 7pm beacons will be lit at many of those locations in a tribute called Beacons of Light, signifying the light of peace that emerged from the darkness of four years of war.

Then at 7.05pm over 1,000 church and cathedrals will ring their bells as part of Ringing Out for Peace organised in association with the Central Council of Church Bell Ringers, which represents 65 societies of ringers from the British Isles and overseas. Brecon Bell Ringers will be taking part in this.

Those joining in the Battle’s Over tribute in Brecon, and all are welcome, are asked to wear warm clothes and to bring a torch.

Across the county events have been organised to mark the armistice by the Powys War Memorials Project, including a poppy making workshop last week at Ystradgynlais Library. Powys War Memorials Project officer Catherine Pugh said she is keen to promote the fact that there is funding available for the renovation of war memorials for the next year.

A recent project was the restoration of the clock tower memorial in the centre of Rhayader.

Catherine said: “The Powys War Memorials Project is continuing until October 2019 with £5000 available for the renovation of established memorials of any type. £200 is also available to enhance the surrounds such as railings.

“I am keen to discuss any ideas people come to me with and to offer funding support for WWI themed training, walks and events.”

Catherine can be contacted at [email protected] or on 01597 827657. Information about projects her team has been involved with can be found at https://www.powyswarmemorials.co.uk.