Local nuclear disarmament campaigners have held events to commemorate the 75th anniversaries of the dropping of atomic bombs on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

On August 6 and August 9, campaigners from South Lakeland and Lancaster District Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament commemorated the historic event with a number of different activities and shared the images online.

In Kentmere, on Hiroshima Day, one family held an early morning commemoration at the bridge near their local waterfall, while Anne Haywood cycled from her home in Staveley to Kendal to join a small vigil at the Friends Meeting House.

On Nagasaki Day, August 9, Philip Gilligan took his Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament scarf up onto High Street to display, while Anne Haywood scattered petals on the River Gowan in memory of those who were killed and injured during the second devastating bombing.

In Lancaster, Norm Tresadern folded 75 paper peace cranes, inspired by the true story of Sadako Sasaki, who was a victim of the bombing of Hiroshima when she was only two years old and subsequently strove to fold a thousand cranes before dying from leukaemia, as a result of the irradiation she had suffered.

Long-time campaigner for Lancaster District Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament Dick Allwright said: “Remembering the horrific deaths and suffering of hundreds of thousands of children, women and men in Hiroshima and Nagasaki 75 years ago reminds us of the pressing need to rid ourselves of the unnecessary threat posed by the dangerous arsenals held by the nine nuclear-armed states.”

Philip Gilligan, who will be co-ordinating the newly combined South Lakeland and Lancaster groups, added: “Sustained local campaigning for a nuclear-free Britain and a safer, more peaceful world will continue unabated in the Lancaster and South Lakeland districts.

“The ongoing pandemic requires that we be more imaginative than ever in publicising the message of nuclear disarmament, and, for the present, much activity has inevitably moved online.

“We are always pleased to hear from anyone who shares our objectives and urge them to both make contact and to visit our Facebook page.”