Royal Navy sailors from RNAS Culdrose marched through the village of Madron near Penzance on Sunday (October 20) for the annual Trafalgar and Lord Admiral Nelson Thanksgiving Parade.
Taking part was the guard and a platoon of trainees from the Helston air station, along with Penzance Sea Cadets, Falmouth and Penryn Sea Cadets, members of the Royal Naval Association and Royal British Legion. Councillors from Penzance and Madron and many members of the public came to watch and attend a church service. Captain Stuart Irwin, the commanding officer of RNAS Culdrose, took the salute outside Landithy Hall.
The story goes that on her way to Falmouth from the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805, HMS Pickle passed the news of the victory and the death of Lord Admiral Nelson to Cornish fishermen far out in Mount’s Bay.
They promptly returned to port and spread the news. Shortly afterwards, the mayor and burgesses of Penzance arranged a memorial service where the Nelson Banner, which was hastily prepared to mourn the death of Nelson, was paraded to the parish church, which at the time was at Madron.
