World War One in the Vale HOME FRONT REMEMBERED

Pershore community groups celebrate winning £20,000 from Heritage Lottery Fund and launch new First World War Home Front history project with cake and coffee.

During the Mayor’s Coffee Morning between 10am and 12pm on 14 November at Pershore Town Hall, members of Pershore WI and Pershore Heritage & History Society will launch their new project and give visitors a chance to find out more about the lives of the town’s residents who kept the home fires burning during the First World War.

Pershore WI and Pershore Heritage & History Society are celebrating the recent award of £10,000 to each from the Heritage Lottery Fund First World War: Then & Now programme.

Over the next year, Pershore WI members will celebrate the centenary of their branch, founded in November 1916 as one of the first Women’s Institutes in the county. They will uncover the lives of its original members, including Viscountess Deerhurst of Pirton, Mrs Beynon, wife of the manager of the Pomona Jam Factory, and the wives, daughters or servants of engineers, bricklayers, tradesmen and market gardeners in the area.

Pershore Heritage & History Society will be investigating ‘How the Pershore Plum Won the War’. The fruit and vegetables grown in the Vales of Evesham and Pershore were essential to the nation’s food production. Many local residents combined market gardening and fruit growing with other trades such as pub landlord or wheelwright.

Supported by Professor Maggie Andrews, students from the University of Worcester, the Voices of War and Peace World War One Engagement Centre, Pershore Library staff and Pershore Town Council, both groups will work with artists, an oral historian and a film-maker to record their discoveries, and have a year’s worth of exciting events and activities planned.

Anne Jenkins, Heritage Lottery Fund’s Deputy Director of Operations, said: “The impact of the First World War was far reaching, touching every corner of the UK. The Heritage Lottery Fund has already invested more than £70million in projects large and small that are marking this Centenary. Our small grants programme is enabling even more communities like those in Pershore to explore the continuing legacy of this conflict and help local young people in particular to broaden their understanding of how it has shaped our modern world.”

The groups will produce touring exhibitions, a WW1 Pershore Town Trail and films of Food Preservation Demonstrations. They will also host a number of craft activities for children in the local library and other public events.

A book based on the groups’ research, How the Pershore Plum Won the War, will be published and available for sale in time for the Pershore Plum Festival in 2016.

Come along to our Home Front Remembered coffee morning to learn more about our plans and discoveries so far, and be prepared to share your own family stories too.

For further information about World War One in the Vale or to get involved, see our website https://ww1inthevale.wordpress.com

 

About Pershore WI

One of the first Women’s Institute branches to be established in Worcestershire, Pershore WI held its inaugural meeting in the old Masonic Hall behind the Angel Inn on 21 November 1916. The branch is now the oldest surviving WI in the county and celebrates its 100th birthday next year.

During its centenary year, Pershore WI will be researching its own history and discovering more about the impact of World War One in the Vale on its earliest members.

The current Branch President is Audrey Whitehouse.

 

About Pershore Heritage & Hstory Society

Established in the 1980s to research, preserve and share the history of Pershore, the PHHS is still active in the town. Today, the Society runs the Pershore Heritage Centre, based inside the Town Hall, where they exhibit a wide range of fascinating artefacts and documents relating to the history and industry of the Vale.

WW1 in the Vale is the first major research project undertaken by the Society in recent years and we hope that local residents will come forward to share some of their own wartime family stories with us over the next year.

The current Chair is Cynthia Johnson.

 

Heritage Lottery Fund and support for First World War heritage:

• From the archaeology under our feet to the historic parks and buildings we love, from precious memories and collections to rare wildlife, we use National Lottery players’ money to help people across the UK explore, enjoy and protect the heritage they care about.  www.hlf.org.uk. @heritagelottery
• To date, £70million in HLF grants has been awarded to projects large and small across the UK so they can mark the Centenary and explore all aspects of First World War heritage that matters to them. Through its First World War: then and now programme, HLF is making at least £1million available per year for six years until 2019.  It is providing grants between £3,000 and £10,000 enabling communities and groups right across the UK to explore, conserve and share their First World War heritage and deepen their understanding of the impact of the conflict.  To find out how to apply for funding visit www.hlf.org.uk/thenandnow.  If a group needs a grant of more than £10,000 for a First World War project, it can apply to HLF through its open programmes www.hlf.org.uk/firstworldwar
• To join the conversation on social media please use #understandingww1

 

For further information, images and interviews, please contact

Jenni Waugh, project co-ordinator for World War One in the Vale

email: jenni.waugh@talktalk.net

phone: 07746 018197