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Morval Parish Council
Views over the parish of Morval Parish

Full News Report

5th October 2024

Widegates Remembrance garden display saved


COUNCIL poppies on the green

  • FITTING TRIBUTE: One of the displays that Barbara Winter, Jane Viney and their husbands staged on the Village Green at Widegates to remind people of Remembrance Day and the sacrifices made by a past generation


THERE was scarcely time to digest the news that the annual Widegates Remembrance garden display was under threat before Parish Council chairman Andy Jackson vowed to keep the tradition going.

At the Council’s monthly meeting, in Widegates Village Hall (Wednesday, October 2), the Clerk, Laura Storey, reported that Barbara Winter, Jane Viney and their husbands would be unable to stage the Widegates Village Green tribute this year due to unforeseen personal circumstances.

But Council Chairman Andy Jackson, a former commando, who spent 17 years in the Army, immediately promised to keep the tribute going.

Praising both Barbara and Jane for their previous efforts which, he said, were much appreciated by parishioners, Cllr Jackson said that councillors should take the lead and he urged his fellow colleagues to support him to make sure the the ladies’ good work would continue. 

Cllr Jackson has previously recalled that he always wanted to join the Army. On May 3, 1983, he reported to Woolwich Barracks to start 16 weeks of basic training, followed by six weeks of trade training. 

“That was where my life changed for ever,” he said. “After training I was sent to Germany but a year later I decided that life in Germany wasn’t for me so, I volunteered to attempt the all arms commando course, under the ever watching eyes of the Royal Marines training wing – and I can assure you they don’t miss much!”

On passing the course Andy was awarded his green beret and reported to 29 Commando based at the Royal Citadel Plymouth, where he spent the next 16 years, being sent to many places including Norway for Arctic winter training for three to four months.  In 1991 he was deployed to Northern Iraq and Kurdistan and his travels also took him to Bosnia in 1995. 


COUNCIL andy jackson


  • FORMER SOLDIER: Morval Parish Council chairman, Cllr Andy Jackson, who spent 17 years in the Armed Forces, has vowed to keep the tradition going