Don't panic! Pub stages wartime-themed day
It's a scene right out of Dad's Army – and drinkers at a certain city centre pub could be forgiven for thinking they had wandered on to the set of the TV favourite.
For one day only, The Wheatsheaf in Wolverhampton has been transformed into a First World War officers' mess.
Staff and regulars of the Market Street pub have been busy all week putting up themed decorations to mark Remembrance Day on Sunday.
Camouflage netting has been draped across the walls, sandbags are piled high and the windows taped up as if to prevent air raid damage. Elsewhere there are trays of wartime memorabilia, including ammunition boxes, helmets, gas masks and kit bags.
Much of it has been sourced by customers, with regular Jim Hunter loaning staff many items for his own personal collection. Military vehicles will also be parked outside the pub for the weekend.
Licensee Lisa Parsons has organised a coach to take more than two dozen customers to the National Memorial Arboretum near Alrewas, Staffordshire, after a slap-up breakfast at the pub.
Other regulars will leave the pub at 10.30am en masse to attend the the city's official memorial service and parade at the Cenotaph.
Ms Parsons said: "We've got a lot of military guys who drink here, and they've been a big help in getting this off the ground.
"We have regimental flags hanging in the middle of the pub which are there all year round, some of which customers have given us and some we've sourced ourselves.
"So for Remembrance Sunday we wanted to do something special. There's a full breakfast for those going to Alrewas and breakfast buns for everyone else. We'll be laying a wreath at the Cenotaph service as we have in previous years, then it's back to the pub for lunch. We're encouraging a 1940s dress code and there will be karaoke in the afternoon."
The pub will be raising money for two military charities: Scotty's Little Soldiers, for children who have lost a parent serving in the British Armed Forces, and Daz's Den, which provides caravan holidays for the families of servicemen who have suffered with physical or mental issues. Cheques totalling more than £1,500 will be handed to representatives of the charities on the day.
