A Union flag raising ceremony on the newly installed flagpole took place on Thursday 28 May in Newfield Park, which was attend by both Spennymoor Division County Councillors Liz Maddison and Pete Molloy, and some of the village residents.
The flagpole is located directly behind the village war memorial, and the honour of raising the Union flag went to the village oldest resident British Army veteran Mr John Sayers.
Mr Sayers, who was accompanied by his wife Margaret, Son, Daughter-in-law and Granddaughter, is 88 years old was born and bred in Newfield, joined the Coldstream Guards in 1958 for his National Service. He left in 1961 and during his service, he served for 1 year with the 2nd Battalion of the Coldstream Guards in Kenya.
Speaking about the Union flag raising ceremony, Councillor Pete Molloy said, “Having a flagpole installed in Newfield Park was part of my project to improve the appearance of the whole of the park for local residents, I reached out to members of the Newfield Community Association, for them to nominate someone from the village to raise the Union flag, and when I was informed about Mr Sayers, I thought he was the perfect person to nominate.
“I would like to thank Mr Sayers for accepting the nomination to raise the Union flag, Councillor Liz Maddison and the members of the public for attending, Durham County Council’s Clean and Green, and Newfield Community Association for both their efforts in enabling the ceremony to take place.”
Spennymoor's local community newspaper.
