THEY are stepping back in time in Meltham once again.
And this time, Spitfire aerobatics and gun battles will be among the highlights of what promises to be an exhilarating weekend of wartime nostalgia.
Click below for a gallery of last year's event.
Meltham Memories Wartime Weekend returns to the village, from July 5 to 7, for a fifth year of 1940s fun.
And organisers say the festival, which last year attracted 8,000 people on one day, will be bigger, bolder and brighter than ever.
As well as the usual costume and vintage vehicle parades, there will be war re-enactments on Meltham’s streets.
Last year’s festival, which raised cash for Help For Heroes, featured a Spitfire flypast.
But this year’s weekend, to raise cash for the Yorkshire Regiment, will include two flypasts – one from a Spitfire and another from a giant Douglas Dakota – and a Spitfire aerobatics display.
Meltham has done more than many to back the Yorkshire Regiment as local soldier Tom Wroe, just 18, was killed in Afghanistan.
The weekend includes live 1940s music, a real ale festival and parades on the Saturday and Sunday.
There will also be a tea dance, a vintage craft fair, 1940s karaoke and a salute from Meltham Mayor Terry Lyons and Mick Wroe, father of Pte Wroe, killed by a rogue Afghan policeman last September.
The Meltham Memories weekend has exploded in popularity over the past few years, attracting visitors from near and far.
Event publicist Richard Noon said: “The difference this year is we are expanding the event all over the village and at Meltham CE School where there’ll be war re-enactments. This year we’ve put a lot more effort into the Sunday.
“We’ve tried to make it that bit more special and we’ve spent more money on it.
“This weekend is the big one that attracts people from all over the country.
“Hopefully this will be the biggest yet. We’ve listened to feedback from the previous years and we’ve promoted it more and further afield. We’ve tried to cater for a massive, wide audience.”
See details on the web at melthammemories.ning.com/events/meltham-memories-2013
