GLORIOUS sunshine greeted more than one hundred singers as Colchester welcomed one of the UK’s longest running TV programmes to the Castle Park Bandstand at the weekend.

Songs of Praise, which was last recorded in Colchester in 2011, returned to the city on Saturday as the crowds turned out to sing well-known and popular Christian hymns.

After singers were shown to their seats, broadcast staff went through their final checks before ten hymns were sung several times each before the cameras.

For All the Saints, He’s Got the Whole World, and Lord of the Dance were the first three pieces to be sung whilst the cameras were rolling, with the anthems performed three or four times so broadcasters could get a range of shots and angles.

Gazette: Baking – Mayor and Mayoress John and Susan Jowers take a front row seat in the sun on SaturdayBaking – Mayor and Mayoress John and Susan Jowers take a front row seat in the sun on Saturday (Image: Daniel Rees, Newsquest)

Jerusalem, Sing Hosanna, I Will Sing the Wondrous Story, and Go Tell it on the Mountain were also on the programme of events, as were Colours of Day, and Praise my Soul the King of Heaven.

With temperatures reaching 27°c, many of those seated next to the Castle Park bandstand took umbrellas to shade from the heat or ate ice creams to cool down.

One regular Songs of Praise viewer, 84-year-old Marlene Cattrell, said she phoned the BBC so she could get a ticket to Saturday’s event.

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She said: “My late husband and I have been watching Songs of Praise since I can remember – since Aled Jones was a little boy.

“I bought the Essex County Standard on Friday and I saw [Songs of Praise was coming to Colchester], but the day before, my neighbour let me know about the event because she saw it in the Gazette.

Gazette: Picture perfect – Castle Park looked stunning in full bloomPicture perfect – Castle Park looked stunning in full bloom (Image: Daniel Rees, Newsquest)

“I phoned the number which was there and BBC Manchester phoned me back, and they sent me a ticket in the post.”

Mrs Cattrell added: “I think the BBC are very good now at making the programme broader and bringing human problems in, not just the church.

“I was actually thinking because Colchester is now a city, that's why they have [brought Songs of Praise here[ – it puts Colchester onto the map.”

The event started to wrap up at about 4pm, with the Songs of Praise screening expected later in the summer or in the early autumn.