The newspaper announced ‘VE Day recaptures May Day gaiety at Knutsford – Cheshire’s ‘gem’ ablaze with flags and streamers’, describing how the town rejoiced but recalled with sadness those who had given their lives and were still fighting in the Far East.

The newspaper reported: “Flags big, small, new, newly-washed, and some definitely ‘moth-eaten’, appeared…and so did bunting and streamers.

“King Street, Princess Street, Canute Place, and every thoroughfare, and all the public buildings, gaily sported flags, and the old and historic town, rightly renowned as ‘the gem of Cheshire’, quickly took on a real festive spirit.

“It was all so fitting too, coming as it did in May Week, which in pre-war years was a time of pageantry and merriment.

“Then there was the May Fair on the Little Heath. The show people did a roaring business and the scenes generally on Monday night will linger long in memory.

“Knutsford didn’t wait – it celebrated on Monday and has done all the week.

“Merry peals were rung on the ancient parish church bells after the Prime Minister’s broadcast.

“The day was spent in real honest-to-goodness rejoicings by residents of all ages, and by hundreds of people who came in from the surrounding countryside chiefly on bicycles or ‘shank’s pony’.

“There were crackers and flares…and a good deal of hearty singing of popular songs of this war and the last.”

The Guardian reported on May 18 on the victory parade to Knutsford Parish Church for a service which was attended by 1,000 people.

The VE Day celebrations in Knutsford as reported by the newspaper feature in an exhibition panel Knutsford Heritage Centre was planning to put on display to commemorate 75 years since VE Day.

As the display is not going ahead because of the coronavirus pandemic the centre wanted to share the panel with the townspeople through the Guardian.

How are you marking the 75th anniversary of VE Day? Share your pics with the Guardian below.