BE PART of Dorchester’s future by helping collect memories of its past.

On June 5 Dorchester Town Council is hosting a free day of music as part of this year’s Diamond Jubilee celebrations.

Between 1.30pm and 9pm, bands will be playing hit tunes from all six decades that the Queen has been on the throne, with the singers from each combo dressed in the style of the era.

Between each set, organisers plan to run old films and display a photo montage on a screen specially hired for the day. The clips and snaps will be of notable events to have taken part in Dorchester, Weymouth and the surrounding area in the six decades since Princess Elizabeth became Queen.

They hope people will generously lend them any old films or photos of notable local events and they might have tucked away.

There are also plans to have the finished film made into DVDs which will be on sale after the event.

Town councillor Molly Rennie is spearheading the quest for picture memories with Town Clerk Dennis Holmes. They are also being helped by Andrew Worth from Dorset County Council.

Mollie said: “It will be a wonderful day, a real family event, and we want to make it that bit more special with films and pictures of Dorchester and the surrounding area from the past 60 years.

“Celebrating a monarch’s six decades on the throne is a once-in-a-lifetime thing and we want to make this as big an event as possible.”

Mollie and her team hope people will have pictures of the various royal visits through the years and some of the major events they would like to see local pictures and films of include: l 1950s: Coronation day street parties; l 1960s: World Cup fever, mini-skirts, Beatlemania, the moon landing and the funeral of Winston Churchill; l 1970s: Silver Jubilee street parties, the effects of the national strikes on local people; l 1980s: Street parties for the wedding of Charles and Diana, the placing of the martyrs’ statues in South Walks, the start of Dorset County Hospital, troops going to and returning from the Falklands conflict, Dame Vera Lynne’s concert at Came Park; l 1990s: Celebrations for the 150th birthday of Thomas Hardy, completion of the second phase of the building of DCH, the start of Poundbury; l 2000s onwards: The growth of Poundbury, Brewery Square development, Golden Jubilee street parties.

Organisers are also hoping that groups from Rotary and Lions clubs to swimming clubs, the town’s rugby and football clubs, Brownies, Guides, Cubs, Scouts and all other community groups will take the time to sift through their archives and find old photos.

Mollie said: “We want it to be a real community thing, with input from the whole town to create something that everyone will enjoy. It really is history in the making.”

All images and films supplied will be returned after the final film has been completed. Please send all films and pictures with your name, address and contact number to Dorchester Town Council, 19 North Square, Dorchester, Dorset DT1 1JF.