Regiment's town parade (From Gazette Series)

Regiment's town parade

THE ROYAL Gloucestershire, Berkshire and Wiltshire Regiment will mark the granting of their freedom of Stroud district with a parade through Dursley on Saturday.

Soldiers from the regiment will march in the town centre with bayonets fixed to acknowledge the honour that Stroud District Council is to bestow upon them.

Around 100 members of the regiment will parade in full ceremonial uniform, along with veterans from the Regimental Association.

The day will start with the formal acceptance of the dreedom of the district and a march in Stroud, followed by marches in Nailsworth and then Dursley.

Council spokesman Dave Marshall said: "We felt we did not want the day just to be a Stroud event as we are awarding the freedom of the whole district."

The dignitaries are expected to arrive in Dursley around 3pm.

At 3.10pm the Town Mayor of Dursley, Cllr Timothy Frankau, will welcome the chairman of Stroud District Council, Cllr Sybil Bruce, and the Colonel of the Regiment, General Kevin O'Donoghue.

Cllr Bruce and General O'Donoghue will then mount a dais on The Link between Barclays Bank and the Jobcentre, Parsonage Street, with the mayor and town councillors alongside.

The march through the town will start at 3.30pm from Rack Field Car Park, turning left onto Castle Street and proceed to the town hall.

From there they will march up Parsonage Street, salute the dais, turn right at the traffic lights and move back along Castle Street to the car park.

One of the soldiers on parade will be Lance Corporal Neil Fry, from Dursley.

He has served with the Gloucestershire, Berkshire and Wiltshire Regiment for seven years, which have included spells in Northern Ireland and Kosovo.

The regiment is currently conducting ceremonial duties, which include guarding Buckingham Palace, Windsor Castle and the Tower of London, so Lance Corporal Fry is very familiar with this type of work.

He does however, prefer doing his primary soldier skills, where he is in charge of a small group of soldiers.

He said: "This is really rewarding and I am learning new skills every day, working with some excellent blokes."

BLOB The A4135 will be closed at both ends of the town centre for the duration of the march, likely to be between 3.20 and 3.40pm.

Insp Neil Winter said: "We would ask motorists to help us make events go smoothly by staying away from Dursley at the relevant time."