Having just got married recently, remembering anniversaries is something I will have to get used to!

We’ve celebrated some important anniversaries in Gloucester this year. In September we marked the 800th anniversary of the coronation of Henry III at Gloucester Cathedral as part of Heritage Weekend (although the actual anniversary is 28th October). Thousands lined the city centre streets and the Cathedral was packed with people wanting to witness this historic spectacle, with 11 year-old Crypt School pupil Fraser Martin playing the role of the boy King. Footage of the event made it onto television in China and Italy!

Celebrations marked Henry III’s links with the various priories of Gloucester
The Duke of Gloucester also visited the new bus station site to bury a time capsule, the Greyfriars housing development to plant a tree, the Museum of Gloucester to see the Henry III exhibition and Blackfriars Priory to present a specially-commissioned timber cross – all as part of the celebrations, marking Henry III’s links with the various priories of Gloucester.

This year has also been the 150th anniversary of Beatrix Potter’s birth and the Beatrix Potter trail around the city centre, organised by Marketing Gloucester, has been hugely popular – making it into The Sun’s top ten of “things to do” this summer. And it’s 125 years since Gloucester Rugby started playing at Kingsholm.

Next year sees the tenth anniversary of the terrible floods of 2007 and, although it is still fairly fresh in our minds, I think we should remember it in a sensitive and appropriate way.

Making the most of tourism and boosting the local economy
2018 will mark a number of special historic anniversaries – the 375th anniversary of the Siege of Gloucester in the English Civil War, 1100 years since Aethelflaed (daughter of Alfred the Great) died and was buried at St Oswald’s Priory, and 175 years since the publication of Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol”. The character Scrooge is said to be modelled on the Gloucester miser, banker Jemmy Wood.

Anniversaries give us an opportunity to focus on an event and make the most of it for tourism and boost the local economy. Do you know of any other anniversaries coming up for Gloucester? Please let me know.