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THE TWELFTH 2011 - HOLYWOOD

The drums of the Newtownards Volunteer Flute	Orange-women from Newtownards on parade
The parade makes its way through Holywood	The District colour party
LOL 1501 followed by the Orange-women	The banner of LOL 1908

LOL 111 on the return from Holywood	The colours of LOL 481
Newtownards Melody Flute Band
The NVF colour party On parade with the Sons of Ulster FB Many lodges have a sword-bearer
LOL 1919, closely followed by LOL 1973	Lambeg drums remain a mainstay of any Twelfth parade

a visiting brother of Medway Martyrs	Members of LOL 1919 and 1973 joined ranks for the day
Flautists from the Protestant Boys
The parade nears it's end, heading for Conway Square

These members of LOL 1952 got the weather they were hoping for	Dr Wright's - the only pipe band in the Newtownards parade

Holywood enjoyed fantastic weather as it welcomed visiting brethren and bands to the coastal town to celebrate the 321st anniversary of the Battle of the Boyne.

As well as the host District, Orange-men and women came from the neighbouring areas of Bangor, Newtownards and Upper Ards to celebrate the Twelfth of the July, as has been done for centuries. As usual, there were visitors from further afield as well - brethren and bands came from England, Scotland and Wales and they were welcomed by strong crowds who lined the full route of the parade.

For the first time, Spafield was used as the main demonstration area, where participants in the parade could take time out for lunch, listen to the official message from the platform or just enjoy a rest prior to starting the return leg of their journey.

As always the Twelfth stretched from early morning to early evening. Many lodges met for breakfast at the Worshipful master's home, then dozens of local feeder parades would have taken place. Everyone then converged on Holywood for the midday start and the parade made it's way slowly through the packed streets, headed by LOL 417 from Ballykeel.

At the culmination of the afternoon parade, brethren and bands boarded their many buses to begin the journey home. For Newtownards members there was one final leg of the day's parading - the walk through the streets of Ards to Conway Square. In the evening many lodges would have held functions to round off the day and reflect upon yet another Glorious Twelfth.