We’re officially England’s Home of Sport! Find out why, and learn what you can do in Nottinghamshire here!
Source: We Won – Nottingham is Officially England’s Home of Sport!
23 Friday Oct 2015
Posted Tourism
inWe’re officially England’s Home of Sport! Find out why, and learn what you can do in Nottinghamshire here!
Source: We Won – Nottingham is Officially England’s Home of Sport!
06 Tuesday Oct 2015
Posted Tourism
inOn the weekend of 26th & 27th September Rufford Country Park hosted their World War II event – ‘On the Home Front’ (1939 – 1945) for the ninth year running! The sun shone on this event over the weekend drawing in 15,000 visitors to the park!
It is a fitting nostalgic event for this Country Park as Rufford was appropriated by the Ministry of Defence in 1939 to be utilised for troop training, The Leicestershire Yeomanry re-trained here as mechanised artillery units, the 4th Battalion Coldstream Guards as part of the 6th Guards Tank Brigade were based here before moving south, ready for the D-Day Invasion of Europe, and the 1st/5th Battalion Lancashire Fusilliers retrained here as the 108th Regiment, Royal Armoured Corps. Rufford was later used as a camp for Italian prisoners of war.
Events over the weekend included being able to meet the Prime Minister Churchill and General Montgomery, Land Army girls, wartime sailors, military police, RAF and much more….
On the Saturday visitors enthralled by the WWII flypast of Hurricane, Spitfire and Dakota from the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight.
There was plenty of joyful emotions mixed with glamour and humour together with the sights and sounds of the those wartime years! Crowds gathered to watch the swing time dancers, the 1940’s wartime music shows, wartime cooking demonstrations, military encampments and exciting air raid scenarios as the National Fire Service battled to save trapped people from fire in the bombed Abbey building! There was even an original ‘Bevin Boy’ giving talks on ‘Britain’s Underground Army’ – a very interesting experience.
In the turning circle with the picturesque backdrop of the Abbey stood military vehicles, Mansfield Fire museum together with military drill demonstrations and wartime tank. For the military enthusiasts and re-enactors alike there was also a 1940’s period market to purchase anything from a fur coat to your army uniform and accessories.
This was a truly amazing nostalgic event for the park and visitors alike!…..