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Annual Council Official Events

Mayor’s Civic Parade and Service

The Mayor, Councillor Phil Cloke, will hold his Civic Service at St Michaels and All Angel’s Church, Great Torrington on Sunday 22nd September 2024 at 10:00am: the service will be led by Fr. Steve Turner and combined with the regular Parish Eucharist.

Torrington Silver Band will lead a parade to St Michael’s Church before the service.  The parade will depart from Sydney House Car Park at approximately 9:30am: if you wish to join the parade, please assemble in Sydney House Car Park outside the Castle Hill building from 9:15am.

Please note: standards should not be paraded.

Mayoral Introduction Ceremony

The Mayoral Introduction Ceremony took place at the Great Torrington Town And Community Hall on Wednesday 22nd May, during which, Cllr Cloke was officially sworn in as Mayor and Cllr Parish as Deputy Mayor for the coming year. Cllr Cloke thanked Cllr Doug Smith for his three years as Mayor and presented him with his Past Mayors Badge.

During the ceremony Chris Foster, was presented with the Mayor’s Good Citizen Award in recognition of the many years that she has served as Church Warden for St. Michael & All Angels Church and for voluntary work carried out at Abbeyfield.

The Howe Plate was awarded jointly to John Eeles and Emily Wapshott for the work they have put into the “Dig the Castle” project on behalf of the Great Torrington Futures Group. Unfortunately, neither John nor Emily were able to attend the Ceremony due to separate holiday commitments but called into our offices for a photo shoot in advance. The engraved plate will be officially presented to them at the Dig the Castle exhibition at the Town Hall in August.

Retiring Mayor’s Cadet Sergeant David Lee was thanked for his assistance by the Mayor who presented him with a certificate to commemorate his service. Sergeant Lee then passed the baton to Lance Corporal George Batten during an official handover, he will now serve as the Mayor’s Cadet for the coming year.

Cheques of approximately £300 each were presented to the Mayor’s Charities for last year, Shirley Bere accepted on behalf of the Torrington Community Food Bank and retiring Mayor Cllr Smith read a letter of thanks from The Eve Appeal who are the leading UK national charity funding research and raising awareness into the five gynaecological cancers – a charity very close to Cllr Smith’s heart having sadly lost his wife to one of these a few years ago.

The Mayor’s Chaplain was announced to be Fr Steve Turner from St Michael and All Angels Church once again for the coming year. Cllr Cloke announced his charities for 2024/25 to be: Children’s Hospice South West, Torri Youth and Torrington Amateur Athletic Club.

Cllr Cloke gave an entertaining speech and expressed his pride in becoming Mayor of Great Torrington, this was followed by a potted history of education in Great Torrington by his son Tim Cloke who is also our Mace Bearer.

We wish Cllr Cloke all the best for the coming year.

The Mayor’s Civic Service 2023

The Mayor’s Civic Service was held yesterday at St. Michael & All Angels Church in Great Torrington. The parade from Sydney House car park to the church was led by the Torrington Silver Band followed by representatives from many local groups and visiting Mayors and Dignitaries.

The Mayor would like to thank Fr. Steve Turner for leading the service and all who attended, took part in the parade and helped with the service.