Legion clashes over remembrance venue

DIVIDED: Club trustee, Bob Rodgers (left), and Alan Kershaw, Delph Band Club’s general secretary, say they will be hosting their event as usual

A BITTER argument has broken out in Saddleworth’s Royal British Legion branch after some members are said to have ignored a 66-year-old tradition.

The branch has been divided following a falling-out between members from Uppermill and Delph.

Delph members claim to have hosted a remembrance dinner every year since 1946 on the Friday before Remembrance Sunday.

This year it falls on November 9, and Uppermill members have organised their own event on the same night — and have invited most of Delph’s usual guests.

Bob Rodgers, a club trustee and organiser of the Delph dinner, said: “Uppermill had their own dinner for a time, but it faded out and they joined ours.

“This year we have received a letter from the Uppermill treasurer saying they’ve changed the venue and are holding the dinner at Diggle Band Club. But it isn’t theirs to rearrange. They’re ignoring a tradition that has been going since the war ended.”

The Delph group has determined to carry on as usual - but invitations for Uppermill’s event have already been sent out.

But Joe Hughes, a Saddleworth committee member, said: “We thought it wasn’t right to always have it in Delph and that it would be better if we moved around the villages instead. It was a Saddleworth branch decision. I wasn’t aware there was a Delph section.”






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