Man About Town – November 2026

By Greg Hall

November is synonymous with traditional family-based events in our town, such as the various bonfire and fireworks displays at the beginning of the month, followed by the annual Christmas lights switch on event towards the end. However, for many of our townsfolk, the penultimate month of the year holds special significance, for it is when we come together to remember those who have lost their lives in conflicts around the world.

As a town, we are often divided by opinions, politics, and the inability of so many to park safely at Aldi, but Remembrance Day – observed on 11th November, with Remembrance Sunday this year falling on the 8th – is a time when we put any differences aside and unite as one to pay our respects.

Sandbach has a rich history tied to various conflicts around the globe, not solely the two World Wars. Our ‘Scotch Common’ car park is so named because of a bloody battle which took place on 3rd September 1651, during the English Civil War, when around one thousand Scottish troops rested in the town on their way home following defeat at the Battle of Worcester, only to be attacked by locals while they slept. Reports suggest around nine or ten Scottish soldiers were slain, with as many as one hundred more taken prisoner.

Then, during World War I, the large estate house known as ‘Abbey Fields’ (off Park Lane) was turned into a hospital to treat wounded soldiers. Built around 1800 in a Neoclassical style, it is now a Grade II listed building, which means it is of national importance and special interest. Speaking of which, there is also a Grade II listed memorial in Sandbach Cemetery, which was moved there in 1934 from its original site outside the old Brunner Mond Chemical works, erected by the company to honour its employees who died in the First World War. Elworth has a similar memorial.

Finally, in 1941, Sandbach residents raised more than £163,000 during the WWII ‘Warship Week’ to adopt the Royal Navy ship HMS Vimiera, a V-Class destroyer built in 1916. Tragically, the Vimiera was sunk in the Thames Estuary on 9th January 1942 after striking a mine, resulting in the loss of 93 lives. In January 2023, Sandbach Town Hall hosted a memorial display commemorating the ship and its connection with the town, exactly 81 years after it was lost.

If you are able, I would urge you to attend the memorial service on the Cobbles this Remembrance Sunday, so our town can properly pay its respects to those brave men and women lost in battle.

At the going down of the sun and in the morning, we will remember them.