Silence fell over the Sid Valley as residents stopped to remember fallen soldiers at services on Armistice Day and Remembrance Sunday.

Young and old marched side by side along Sidmouth High Street on Sunday, with more than 300 people gathering at the parish church for a service.

Dave O’Connor, chairman of the Sidmouth branch of the Royal British Legion (RBL), called the event and attendance ‘first class’ and thanked the Reverend Canon Dr Phillip Bourne. “The parish church was chock-a-block,” he added.

Nancy Bowstead, 95, travelled from Burnham-on-Sea for the service. Nancy has spent more than seven decades helping the RBL and gAve a reading.

Large crowds also gathered at the war memorial last Friday for the dedication of a garden of remembrance.

Attendances at services in Sidford, Sidbury and Salcombe Regis were also high.

Colin Kingman, vice-chairman and Poppy Appeal organiser for the Sidford and Sidbury RBL branch, said attendance at Sidbury’s war memorial was the largest he has seen. He estimated that more than 40 people paid their respects before the service continued in St Giles’ Church.

At Salcombe Regis Parish Church, some 30 people attended a service led by the Reverend Stephen Knight. Councillor Ian Barlow and Sheelagh Michelmore laid a wreath and cross at the memorial.