Re-enactment groups will bring wartime history to life at Cresswell Pele Tower
Re-enactment groups will help a Northumberland village turn back the clock to 1943 as part of this year’s Heritage Open Days programme.
The Cresswell Pele Tower Living History Group is organising a special day of activities to take place on Sunday, September 20.
Re-enactment groups from Blyth Battery, Sobel’s Deserters, the 110th Panzergrenadiers, Stens and Sensibility and the Time Bandits will all be taking part in the day, suitably attired for the occasion.
There will be displays of vintage cars, military vehicles including jeeps and motorbikes, and tractors of the day, and local Army and Air Force cadets will be present.
In the restored walled garden adjoining the Pele Tower, the Newbiggin Town Choir will entertain visitors with a medley of songs from those wartime days.
Visitors will also get the chance to learn about the story involving a local man (Joe Baker-Cresswell) which helped change the course of the war.
The undoubted highlight of the day will be a mock battle between the ‘invading Germans’ and local stalwarts fighting them off.
As Steve Lowe, volunteer co-ordinator and events officer at Cresswell Pele Tower, says there will be plenty of blank ammunition bangs and pyrotechnic explosions to thrill the watching spectators.
“It’s going to be quite an event and we are looking forward to welcoming lots of people to Cresswell Pele Tower to join in the fun, thrills and spills,” he added.
‘The Seagull has Landed’ day at Cresswell Pele Tower will run from 11am to 4pm. Entry is free but donations including tinned food and dried produce will be welcome, with all the proceeds going to support the Widdrington Food Bank.