Stories of WW1 soldiers to be told at exhibition in Chipping on Remembrance Sunday, also of the community left behind

On Sunday, November 12 (Remembrance Sunday) Chipping Local History Society is holding an exhibition from noon at Chipping Village Hall, marking the centenary of the First World War.
This photograph was taken in the Talbot Meadow, off Garstang Rd, Chipping, now the site of the village hall, football fields and childrens play area. During the WW1 women were needed to work on the land. This photograph shows training in ploughing.This photograph was taken in the Talbot Meadow, off Garstang Rd, Chipping, now the site of the village hall, football fields and childrens play area. During the WW1 women were needed to work on the land. This photograph shows training in ploughing.
This photograph was taken in the Talbot Meadow, off Garstang Rd, Chipping, now the site of the village hall, football fields and childrens play area. During the WW1 women were needed to work on the land. This photograph shows training in ploughing.

The exhibition is the culmination of a year-long project by the society and volunteers, researching the impact of the First World War on a relatively remote community and is funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund ‘Then and Now’ programme. The aim was to research and explore the stories behind the names commemorated on the village War Memorial and the affect the war had on the community and particularly, on the women and children and farming and industry. Those who served in the armed forces and returned to live in the community have also formed an important part of the project.

The main displays feature the soldiers, women and children and farming and industry. Members have sourced a considerable amount of information on visits to the Lancashire Archives, the Harris Museum and Library and the Lancashire Infantry Museum. At the society’s Open Sundays, relations and friends have been most helpful in bringing along memorabilia, photographs and other items for copying. When we asked if anyone possessed a gold medal, which was funded by the village and presented to the families of those who died and to those who returned, by Lord Derby after the war, three families responded and brought the medals in to be photographed. During the summer children have participated in a ‘WW1 Junior Trail’ around the village. During the afternoon there will be a showing of the film ‘The First World War – Life on the Home Front in North West England’ presented by the North West Film Archive.

Admission is free and light refreshments will be available.