Thursday 8th May 2025, marks 80 years since VE-Day, with communities of our great nation coming together to unite and celebrate 80 years of peace since the end of Word War II in Europe. The Bank Holiday celebrations marked this occasion showing the strength and pride of our community in the Meltham Township.
On the day there were a number of activities around the area with the national BBC News located on Tinker Lane at the residents’ VE Day street party, which was covered by former Meltham resident and BBC News broadcaster Judith Moritz and Regional Correspondent, Josh Parry. The coverage saw Meltham represented throughout the afternoon and on the flagship BBC News at 6 and BBC News at 10 programmes.
Members of the community were filmed to give their feedback which ranged from a war veteran, Captain Richard Styam, to young people of the area.
A procession of 1940’s vehicles including Willy’s Jeeps and a tank formed at Tinker Lane and later toured the village centre, with a performance from Meltham & Meltham Mills Band outside St Bartholemew’s Church and again at the Tinker Lane street party later in the day. The newly opened Helme Edge Vineyard provided bottles of wine to celebrate this historic anniversary.
One of the additional key events was the flypast of the spitfire in recognition of VE day due to also the long standing history of gearbox manufacture for spitfires in Meltham during the war.
There was also a free bus service around Meltham on the day, provided by South Pennine Community Transport (a volunteer driven service) which enabled residents to travel to the scarecrow festival and the 80th anniversary of VE day celebrations in the Town Centre. Our Town Mayor Cllr Haigh, Wayne Barrett past Community Achievement Award Winner driving the bus, with two year 10 pupils from Honley High School acting as customer assistants. The scarecrow competition saw 32 scarecrows entered and there were 1st, 2nd and 3rd prize winners.
Overall a wonderful day was had by all, clearly demonstrating the cohesiveness of our local community, Town Council and its staff.
Meltham Town Council would like to pass on their thanks to all that were involved in making this fantastic day a commemorative occasion and for their commitment to making the day a success.
