'I can still remember the names of everyone from that first VE Day'

Norma shares memories of party to mark end of Second World War

- Thomas Cooper

NORMA Sherratt was aged just eight when the very first VE Day celebrations took place to mark the end of the Second World War.

Today on the 80th anniversary of the historic day, she is sharing her memories of how the people of Ball Green marked the occasion.

She is pictured - on the front row with a bandage on her knee -with family and friends of Ridgway Chapel.

Norma, of Endon, said: "I grew up in Ball Green.

"In those days, the place consisted of a row of terraced houses along with a few other standalone buildings. It was very rural.

"My grandparents lived close by at the Ridgway and invited us to this party. The celebrations took place in a little Methodist chapel, which had formerly been part of the Chatterley Whitfield Colliery.

"Before becoming a place of worship, I believe it had been an old engine or winding house.