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Youth groups joined veterans for a Remembrance Day parade through Islington on Sunday, marking the centenary of the end of the First World War.

The procession began at the Union Chapel and moved down to Islington Memorial Green for a service in which the names of people from the borough who lost their lives were read out. There was a two-minute silence and the laying of the poppy wreaths by faith leaders, children and politicians, including MP Emily Thornberry.

Sunday’s procession went from Union Chapel to Islington Memorial Green where poppy wreaths were laid

Mayor of Islington Cllr Dave Poyser said he was “proud” to wear his grandfather Leonard Oscar Parkes’s military cross which he won for “conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty” during the First World War.

He said: “My mother is alive and is 93 years old. She was proud of her father and proud of me as I honoured him. He died early as the result of the gas attack. All of my family came from Durham and Surrey to see their grandfather honoured. I can honestly say, it was the highlight of my year as mayor.”

Cllr Poyser also thanked all of the volun­teers throug­hout the borough who knitted poppies to decorate the steps of the Town Hall to mark day.

“They did such wonderful work at such short notice. It was an honour to mark the occasion as mayor. It was so moving,” he said.

David Dade, the poppy appeal organiser for Islington and the Parade Marshall for the event, said he was “mightily pleased” with how the parade had gone. Ron Ranger, a veteran of the Royal Fusiliers, said he is not always able to attend Remembrance Day services, but he was happy to have been in attendance today as he found the parade and the service to be “brilliant”.