Town out in force for socially distanced VE Day celebrations

Families enjoying the VE Day Keep Calm and Celebrate street party in Snowdrop Drive, Attleborough, all in their own driveways. Tam Mitchell with her daughter Maisie. Picture: DENISE BRADLEY (Image: Copyright: Archant 2020)

Attleborough was in jubilant mood as the Keep Calm and Celebrate street party recognised three quarters of a century since German surrender at the end of the Second World War.

Among the busiest streets was Snowdrop Drive, where dozens of families enjoyed picnics and played music - all at a distance given the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

Mark Bailey at his home in Attleborough, with his tribute to VE Day, which includes an unexploded bomb and tank defences known as 'hedgehogs'. Picture: DENISE BRADLEY (Image: Copyright: Archant 2020)

Elsewhere, on Norwich Road, wartime reenactor Mark Bailey decorated the grass verge outside his garden with an unexploded bomb display and hedgehog anti-tank defences.

“I’ve been reenacting for about 11 years and do events all over the UK,” said Mr Bailey, who runs an educational project called Discover D Day,

Families enjoying the VE Day Keep Calm and Celebrate street party in Snowdrop Drive, Attleborough, all in their own driveways. Tam Mitchell with her daughter Maisie. Picture: DENISE BRADLEY (Image: Copyright: Archant 2020)

“We were inundated with offers this year but with, what’s going on, everything has been cancelled.

“I thought, rather than sit here around doing nothing, I’d put some of the equipment out especially for VE Day.”

Families enjoying the VE Day Keep Calm and Celebrate street party in Snowdrop Drive, Attleborough, all in their own driveways. Tam Mitchell with her daughter Maisie. Picture: DENISE BRADLEY (Image: Copyright: Archant 2020)

Families enjoying the VE Day Keep Calm and Celebrate street party in Snowdrop Drive, Attleborough, all in their own driveways. Tam Mitchell with her daughter Maisie. Picture: DENISE BRADLEY (Image: Copyright: Archant 2020)

Mark Bailey at his home in Attleborough, with his tribute to VE Day, which includes tank defences known as 'hedgehogs'. Picture: DENISE BRADLEY (Image: Copyright: Archant 2020)

Families enjoying the VE Day Keep Calm and Celebrate street party in Snowdrop Drive, Attleborough, all in their own driveways. Tiana Cooper, 10, with her brother, Tiernan, seven; their parents Claire and Tony Cooper, and their grandmother, Janet Gannon. Picture: DENISE BRADLEY (Image: Copyright: Archant 2020)

Families enjoying the VE Day Keep Calm and Celebrate street party in Snowdrop Drive, Attleborough, all in their own driveways. Tam Mitchell with her daughter Maisie. Picture: DENISE BRADLEY (Image: Copyright: Archant 2020)

Families enjoying the VE Day Keep Calm and Celebrate street party in Snowdrop Drive, Attleborough, all in their own driveways. Tiana Cooper, 10, with her brother, Tiernan, seven; their parents Claire and Tony Cooper, and their grandmother, Janet Gannon. Picture: DENISE BRADLEY (Image: Copyright: Archant 2020)

Mark Bailey at his home in Attleborough, with his tribute to VE Day, which includes an air raid siren and tank defences known as 'hedgehogs'. Picture: DENISE BRADLEY (Image: Copyright: Archant 2020)

Families enjoying the VE Day Keep Calm and Celebrate street party in Snowdrop Drive, Attleborough, all in their own driveways. Tam Mitchell with her daughter Maisie. Picture: DENISE BRADLEY (Image: Copyright: Archant 2020)