Flames leapt up into the evening sky as Winchelsea lit the town beacon to mark the Queen’s birthday on 21st April 2016.

Celebrations began when people from Winchelsea, Icklesham and around gathered for a Thanksgiving Service at St Thomas’ Church led by the Rector, Canon Robin Whitehead.

Those who had been in church were joined by yet more local residents who came to the New Hall for a reception organised by the Mayor, John Spencer. A happy crowd of over 150 followed the piper across the fields to the beacon where Graham Peters, one of the Deputy Lieutenants of East Sussex, read a birthday message from Prince Charles, the National Anthem was sung and three cheers were raised for Her Majesty, before a torch was put to the beacon and it flamed out over the Brede Valley and for miles around.