Christchurch celebrates St George’s Day

For the first time in recent history, Christchurch celebrated St George’s Day.

The bells of the Priory church rang out and the highlight of the occasion was the Mayor of Christchurch, Cllr David Flagg, raising a toast to the patron saint of England from the balcony of themayor’s parlour in the High Street.

The mayor and fellow councillors then distributed English beer and apple juice to passers-by and encouraged them to take a cream tea in the parlour.

The mayor said: “I’m very proud to have been part of these celebrations. We need to take more pride in ourselves, be more patriotic and celebrate our patron saint’s day.

“It was a very successful day and we look forward to expanding our activities next year.”