A SPECTRUM of the Farnham community gathered in Castle Street to observe a two-minute silence on the exact same spot as the first ever such silence held back in 1916.

The centenary of the local legacy drew in remarkable crowds to Castle Street on May 10, 2016, as thousands gathered for ‘Time to Remember’ - a one-off event organised by the Farnham Maltings and Farnham Town Council modelled on the original wartime event in 1916.

Back then a group of local farmers held an agricultural jumble sale and general fair in Castle Street to raise funds for the Red Cross. But amid the turmoil of the First World War, the people asked if it was appropriate to hold that kind of event.

So, the programme for the event included a two-minute silence “as a token of respect to the memory of those who have fallen in the War, to the Wounded, to the Prisoners and to those who are fighting for their Country”.

This remarkable document was recently unearthed at The National Archives by Farnham Maltings project director Christine Lee.

This year’s gathering was a more intimate affair, attracting a modest crowd in Castle Street to remember all those who have, and are, serving around the world in Britain’s armed services.

The Maltings once again organised the gathering, and its director Gavin Stride thanked those present for their attendance, and paid tribute to all those “keeping the world safe on our behalf”.

His short address was followed by a two-minute silence on the stroke of 11am.

Among those in attendance was the outgoing Mayor of Farnham, Mike Hodge, his consort and Waverley council leader Julia Potts, the rector of Farnham Rev David Uffindell, town clerk Iain Lynch, Tindle Newspapers’ Wendy Craig, serving soldiers of the Princess of Wales’s Royal Regiment and veterans of the Royal British Legion Farnham branch.