LEDBURY played host to some very important people last Friday, at the rededication of the town's recreation ground as a Centenary Field war memorial site.

A town council spokesman said: "The rededication ceremony last Friday was supported with a very good attendance, including the High Sheriff of Herefordshire, Lady Jane Lisvane, the Deputy Lord Lieutenant of Herefordshire, Nathaniel Hone, Vice Chairman of Herefordshire Council, Councillor Phil Edwards, Mayor of Ledbury, Councillor Elaine Fieldhouse, Colonel Andy Taylor OBE , Curator Hereford Light Infantry Museum, members and staff of Ledbury Town Council and representatives of John Masefield High School, Ledbury Primary School and other community organisations.

"It was a very moving occasion, made more so by the reading of the 85 names of the fallen of Ledbury in the First World War, by children and young people of Ledbury Primary and John Masefield High Schools and other community representatives."

The spokesman added: "The involvement of the children, who also placed sprigs of Rosemary in remembrance, added to the poignancy of the occasion.

"The Exhortation was read by Wing Commander Don Rule, who reminded those present that this year is also the centenary of the formation of the Royal Air Force."

When the Recreation Ground was recently threatened by developers, action was taken by the Town Council to preserve the ground in perpetuity as a war memorial site under the Centenary Fields project.

But the ground has also been a designated war memorial site since a short while after the First World War, when it was purchased to provide a green space for local children, in memory of the town's fallen.