IT will be twice the celebration in Okehampton later this year as the town plays a major role in marking the bicentenary of the Battle of Trafalgar ? not once, but twice. Preparations are well underway for the visit of a replica stage coach to the town in August to re-enact the epic journey made by the messenger who brought the news of victory at Trafalgar back to Britain. However, a string of events is also being planned around the town to mark the 200th anniversary of the battle itself in October. The Trafalgar Weekend of festivities is due to get underway on Friday, October 21, with a celebration breakfast. That evening, the first in the chain of nationwide beacons will be lit at Portsmouth. As part of the synchronised national celebration a beacon will be lit at Meldon, with possibly two others at different locations around the Okehampton area also being lit. Organiser Derek Godfrey-Brown said the White Hart Hotel would be offering a special themed menu through the weekend, starting on Friday, October 21 ? the actual date of the battle. On Saturday, October 22, there will be a Trafalgar-themed farmers? market and hog roast in Red Lion Yard. He said other events were being planned to take place during the weekend. The Trafalgar Weekend takes place the same weekend as local music group Wren Trust holds a series of concerts and workshops around the town as part of its annual Baring-Gould Festival. At Monday?s meeting of Okehampton Town Council?s property committee, members agreed to offer support to the Trafalgar Weekend event, but said their focus would remain on the Trafalgar Way celebrations. Mayor of Okehampton Tony Leech said the event would provide a great boost for the town: ?The Trafalgar Way is going to be brilliant for the town, especially as Ordnance Survey have created a map of the whole route and people are going to follow that trail for years. That has got to be good for Okehampton, and any of the other places on the Trafalgar Way.? Cllr Leech said he hoped the people of the town would get behind the events planned to celebrate naval hero Nelson and his role at Trafalgar. The Lorna Doone, an original North Devon stage coach will travel through Devon and Cornwall during August, retracing the steps taken by the messenger, Lt John Richards Lapenotiere, as he raced from Falmouth to London at breakneck speed to herald the news of the victory. The re-enactment procession will enter Devon at Lifton on August 15, where church bells will ring and an actor playing Lt Lapenotiere will be welcomed by the Lord Lieutenant of Devon. On the following morning, roads in Okehampton town centre will be closed for an hour, while celebrations take place. The town band will play and church bells will be rung as Lt Lapenotiere arrives in the town. The new Trafalgar Dispatch will be read and a scroll presented to the town mayor, a plaque at the White Hart Hotel where Lapenotiere changed horses, will be unveiled.
