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On the morning of VE Day my friend and I went to a Thanksgiving Service at our local church.A wedding was in progress when we arrived, but we were all allowed to tiptoe in whilst the bride and groom signed the register. They must have been astonished at the size of the congregation as they came back down the aisle.
In the afternoon we went for a cycle ride in the Dales and after tea, my father and I and some friends went to the Royal Hall in Harrogate to a concert from the Halle orchestra conducted by Sir John Barbirolli.
Of course we didn't know it would be VE Day when we booked but we couldn't have chosen a happier way to celebrate. The concert was wonderful and at the end the orchestra did something they don't normally do -they played an encore.
We finished by singing Land of Hope and Glory- it was like the last night of the Proms, but much more emotional - the audience went wild-applauding,laughing and crying- we applauded the orchestra, they applauded us- we raised the roof.
Afterwards,we walked in the park, looking at the lights on in the town, and met some American soldiers.One of them dashed off and picked me an enormous bunch of lilac, though I told him he shouldn't because it belonged to the Corporation. I remember his name was Al. I never saw him again, but it made a lovely end to a happy day, as I went home with an armful of stolen lilac.

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