EVENTS to mark the 80th anniversary of VE Day were held across the area in May.
From tea parties to beacon lighting, there was a mix of celebration and reflection as communities remembered the end of the Second World War in Europe on May 8 1945.
On the evening of the VE Day anniversary an estimated 300 people gathered on Siston Common for one of more than 1,00 beacon lighting events held across the country.
The three-hour event, organised by Siston Parish Council, included a picnic, fish and chips – chosen because the traditional takeaway wasn’t rationed during the war – and ended with beacon lighting.
Similar events were held in Kingswood Park and Keynsham Memorial Park, while communities, care homes and schools organised tea parties where people who lived through the war shared their memories.
Flags were flown on churches and civic buildings and church bells were rung.
A flower festival in Kingswood had a VE Day theme, while others in the area found their own ways to mark the anniversary, from knitting to model aircraft.
May saw a double celebration for Keynsham resident Stan Ford, a veteran of the D-Day landings, who marked his landmark 100th birthday with a party at Keynsham Masonic Hall attended by B&NES council leader Kevin Guy and council chair Karen Walker.
Stan survived his Allied ship being hit by a torpedo. Thirty-eight of the ship’s crew were rescued, but 31 lost their lives.
An Ambassador for the Normandy Memorial, he spends his life honouring those who serve and features on a VE Day Standing with Giants banner.