A parade through Cliftonville to the Margate war memorial marked the proud and dignified annual Trafalgar Day celebration on Sunday.

Town mayor Cllr Brian Sullivan and service representatives laid wreaths at the cenotaph at Trinity Hill to mark one of the most famous British victories in history, when Lord Nelson vanquished the French and Spanish fleets at Cape Trafalgar, off the coast of Spain.

The battle of Trafalgar is seen as a turning point in the fight against Napoleon’s attempt to make Europe his personal empire. This and the land battle of Waterloo led by Wellington in the same year ensured Napoleon’s demise and ushered in a period of British ascendancy in Europe.

It has consequently become a great focus of British national pride.