Veterans from a range of different conflicts shared stories and experiences as they gathered for a special event laid on by an Islington pub.

It’s the second year that Steve Coxshall, landlord of the Barnsbury Pub in Liverpool Road, has held the veterans lunch and around 30 ex-servicement turned out for the occasion on Saturday.

Mr Coxshall, 41, recently gave the Islington Veterans’ Association (IVA) a special bugle from America with a recorded sound box to avoid the need to play the difficult instrument. And as a mark of thanks for that, and the other work he does for veterans, the IVA presented the charitable landlord, who used to be in the Marines Band Service, with a bugle complete with a plaque.

Mr Coxshall said: “It was a really, really lovely day. I thank these men for our freedom today and it’s my way of saying thank you.

“This is a community pub and I’m lucky to be in an area where you can make a difference. It’s a very simple thing laying on some nice sandwiches and beers, but it benefits me more than them as it’s so nice to see these lovely, good mannered gentlemen enjoy themselves.

“Young people today could lean a lot from them. It’s quite embarrassing that we’ve gone so far in technology but we seem to have lost a lot of that respect and gratefulness for life.”