A MONUMENT in memory of Hatherleigh's famous son Lt Col William Morris, who led the Charge of the Light Brigade at the Battle of Balaclava, will be re-dedicated at a historical ceremony in the town on October 25.

Now, 146 years after the battle, the bugle that sounded the charge will be played by a member of Hatherleigh Silver Band.

Also, the story of the monument on Hatherleigh Moor, erected through public subscription in 1860, will be re-told to Hatherleigh school pupils and townspeople.

The event, which will be attended by representatives of cavalry regiments who took part in the The Charge of the Light Brigade, has been arranged as part of the millennium celebrations.

Hatherleigh resident Lt Col Michael Whiteley, who has helped organise the day, said he believed it would be a 'very remarkable occasion.'

'It is a very impressive monument and extraordinary that a place like Hatherleigh has a monument like that for one man,' he said.

'William Morris' regiment, The 17th Lancers, now called the Queen's Royal Lancers, thinks very highly of him indeed.'

The obelisk to Morris has a bronze plaque on it, inscribed 'Balaclava' and shows the wounded officer being carried in after the charge.

Lt Col Whiteley said when he wrote to the colonel of the regiment, Lt Gen Sir Richard Swinburn, asking him if he would take part he thought it was a 'wonderful idea.'

Sir Richard Swinburn and Mayor of Hatherleigh Dennis Bater will lead the events at noon on the anniversary of Balaclava Day and also involved will be the residents of the three houses associated with the memorial — Fishleigh House, the home of William Morris, Passaford House, where his mother lived and Broomford Manor at Jacobstowe.

Now occupied by TV celebrity Noel Edmonds, Broomford Manor was once the family home of Sir Robert White-Thompson, who in 1902, restored the monument adding the railings in memory of his brother Lt William Thompson of the 17th Lancers who was killed at Balaclava.