FIERCELY patriotic, but not xenophobic, I hope, I’ve always been game for a bit of flag waving and a good old sing song.

With so many local events to choose from this week I was certainly spoilt for choice.

As a keen theatregoer it seemed highly appropriate that on the historic day the people of Scotland voted to stay part of the United Kingdom I should find myself at Chaffcombe cillage hall for a one-woman performance entitled ‘Wrong ‘Un’.

Not since I saw Dame Maggie Smith in ‘The Lady in the Van’ in Birmingham more than 20 years ago have I been so impressed by the ability of one person to single-handedly hold an audience’s attention.

It’s not often I am rendered speechless, but in her role as protagonist Annie Wilde Ella Harris was truly amazing.

‘Wrong ‘Un’ tells the story of this Lancashire mill girl galvanised by a rousing mixture of injustice, conviction, self-doubt and fear on her journey from schoolroom to prison cell and beyond in a musical drama that draws on class, privilege, hope and disappointment in wartime England.

Next on the list of patriotic outings over the weekend was ‘The Road to War’, performed by Heritage Theatre to a packed house at Donyatt village hall, along with a scrumptious supper.

This latest tribute to all who served and fell in the First World War, and the events leading up to it, helped to raise money for the village hall and was organised by Ginny Davies.

From the moment we all stood to attention as the first strains of the national anthem were heard to the final anti- war song ‘The Green Fields of France’, we were treated to a mix of songs, medleys and poems interspersed by narratives read in turns by the performers.

At times the audience collectively raised the roof when singing along to well known favourites, such as ‘Pack Up Your Troubles’ and ‘It’s a Long Way to Tipperary’, while moments later you could hear a pin drop as everyone listened in sombre silence to ‘In Flanders Field’ by John McCrae.

My patriotic weekend concluded with ‘Poppies and Proms’, performed by the Taunton Concert Band under the direction of Martin Wills at The Warehouse Theatre, Ilminster.

Certainly, the audience needed no encouragement for a bit of flag waving and audience participation, especially when we got to ‘Land of Hope and Glory’.

We often hear the phrase ‘Lest We Forget’ in relation to war, but in this case what might be more appropriate is ‘Lest We Forget’ the vibrant community life of our local villages.