THERE were festivities even Vera Lynn would have been proud of as Ingleton hosted its annual 1940s weekend recently.

Wartime attire was the order of the day with visitors enjoying seeing ladies in their finery and uniformed officers parading the streets.

A number of army vehicles made it to join in the parade as did a number of vintage vehicles, including a rare, 90-year-old Model A Ford, which gleamed as much as it did when it came off the production line in 1929.

A tea dance on Sunday gave the ladies a chance to show off their dresses while others couldn’t resist dancing in the street to great applause.

The main street and high street had been closed to traffic so revellers could dance and enjoy themselves in safety.

A marched remembrance parade took place at the war memorial where visitors and re-enactors were able to pay their respects.

The yearly event is always well attended and this year’s glorious weather helped boost the number of people who went along to soak up the nostalgia.

Among the entertainment was a number of new acts and displays for people to see, alongside the old favourites.

From a military perspective the French resistance brought their Morse code machines and the Navy came along with the rum ration.

On the ‘Home Front’ vintage caravans set up home on the green, allowing visitors inside to have a look at how holidaying used to be and Weddings of Yesterday put on a beautiful display inside St Mary’s Church.

A troop of re-enactors from Northern World War Two Association pitched camp in the park and their knowledge and enthusiasm soon had the crowds enthralled.

There was equal amounts of cheering, boo-ing and clapping as they learned about the uniforms, life in a German field hospital and of course the live firing of rifles and machine guns.

A good range of vehicles joined up for the parades – from horse drawn traps and tractors to Jeeps, tanks and stunning classic civilian motors.

A few famous faces stopped by to take part including Sir Winston Churchill (Robert Burns) and George Formby (Colin Bourdiec ), who kept the dancers in the street on their toes with DJ 65000, Miss Harri Deane, Rachel Mercer and D’ukes.

Trade stands with a variety of memorabilia of the era were in two locations, near the Three Horseshoes and the community centre. There was even a vintage hairdresser on hand, though it is not clear if they drummed up any trade.

A visit from the Thwaites dray is always a fine sight as is the community centre which was decked out for a VE Day-style celebration.

There were old fashioned fete games which bemused the children and a slide show, Callsign one Charlie, the remarkable story of a Churchill AVRE and its crew on D-Day.

At St Mary’s Church an act of remembrance and service took place outside, which preceded the parade to the war memorial with a pipe band.

On Friday evening there was a dance in the Wheatsheaf to Hep to the Jive, with an optional dance lesson while on Saturday night, music and dancing was held in the community centre with the Mike Brown Band.

The organisers said they were thrilled the event was such a huge success and said the committee would like to extend thanks to everyone who visited, got involved, helped out and enjoyed themselves.