Press Release - World War One Commemoration at Dorchester Corn Exchange, August 8th 2014

Walking in their Shoes Launches Interactive Walk in World War One Commemoration

The Corn Exchange, Dorchester

On Friday 8^th August, on the same week 100 years ago when the UK declared war on Germany in August 1914, Walking in their Shoes were proud to be part of a commemorative event in Dorchester’s historic Corn Exchange to remember the impact the Great War had on Dorset.

This event, hosted by Dorchester Town Council, and supported by organisations such as the Dorset History Centre, The Keep Military Museum and the Dorset County Museum, bought together a series of activities throughout the day, including a rendition of wartime songs, an arts and crafts table for younger visitors and a performance from the Dorchester Silver band. With volunteers dressed in costumes from this era, the Walking in their Shoes team had the privilege of the occasion to officially open their First World War trail across, located across Dorchester, Bovington and Moreton, where boxes packed with local historical facts can be found by Geocaching or a traditional map and compass. An app to download on smartphone devices and an official website will also be launched to accompany the walk. 

The walk, which had the honour of Joyce Ray, a second-generation descendent from the War where her mother worked in a local soldiers rest home, cutting the ribbon of our historical trail saw the current Mayor of Dorchester, Councillor Peter Mann, and Chairman of Dorset Youth Association, Alan Knott, discover the first boxes hidden in the town. The contents of the boxes, as well as other aspects of this project, has been entirely devised and executed by the young volunteers, aged 15-25, with the support of Project Officer, Lorna Johnson.

Ms Johnson added in a comment about the day that “I was incredibly proud of the WiTS volunteers they really added to the day and brought energy and enthusiasm and commitment to the day […] they were great ambassadors for youth heritage volunteering and all the organisations wanted to work together again.”

The Mayor of Dorchester, Councillor Peter Mann, added “An excellent day. I particularly enjoyed the Walking in their Shoes project.”

Walking in their Shoes is a Heritage Lottery Funded project, supported by Dorset Youth Association, for young people to trace back the footsteps of an Anglo-Saxon monk and a First World War soldier in the Dorset area. It is an inclusive group of volunteers aged 15-25 with diverse abilities to help convey history in an innovative and accessible approach for the public to experience.

ENDS

For more information, please contact Lorna Johnson on  01305 757027 or email lornajohnson@dorsetyouth.com.

Tank display

Our experience at the Tank Museum

Three members of our group took part in a display at Bovington Tank Museum. They also got to ride in the back of an armoured personnel carrier around the arena then take on an opposing unnamed force.

Following the Soldier's Trail

31st August 2014

By Jack Welch, Volunteer Press Officer

The WITS team returned onto their Bovington trail, as we visited the Tank Museum and a small expedition into Moreton Forest, as we finally started plotting out the location of our brand new caches that will give Geocache or more traditional map and compass hunters the opportunity to discover more about Dorset's role in the First World War.

Before that though, we were invited by the Tank Museum's Exhibition Assistant, Catherine, to be consulted as part of a focus group on their exciting new exhibition soon to be constructed, as a replica of a tank factory. The group were highly impressed by the scale and number of features which will be unveiled to the public by early 2015. Following that, Edward, Douglas and Ashley bravely volunteered themselves for a role in a showcase of various military vehicles in the showground of the museum. With the help of fellow allies, they managed to persuade the pirate villains to surrender themselves!





Making the short hop from the museum to the forest, some group members failed to take proper caution with the puddles that we met on our expedition - some decided to wear sandals and flip-flops for the day! With the obstacle eventually overcome, the group successfully found some discrete spots where the history hunt will soon officially begin. 

Stories of Sherborne

8th July 2014

By Jack Welch, Volunteer Press Officer

The WITS team got their backpacks and time travel gear on today, as we made an adventure to trace the footsteps of Dorset's famous pilgrimaging Saint, St. Aldhelm and Sherborne's role in early Saxon history. Alongside our familiar friend from Dorset Young Remembers, Pippa Brindley, the group would also participate in a storytelling workshop later in the afternoon which will equip the group with vital skills in creating concise and attention-grabbing tales for our caches. Firstly though, we made our visit to the Abbey in the centre of the town Shown around by Education Officer of the Abbey, Lesley McCreadie, the group observed the magnificent architecture that surrounded the church and because of the later Norman invasion, St. Aldhelm, who was the first Bishop of the Abbey, would not have recognised its features his much simpler Abbey building was believed to have been next to today's building in 705.

Not knowing what the famous Bishop really looked like can pose a challenge to most artists. There were at least three interpretations of the famous Bishop that we saw, some of which you can see here:

The group also witnessed the tomb of Sir John Horsey and his son, the former being the man who had purchased the church after the monasteries were dissolved in the Tudor era and saved the Abbey being destroyed by Henry the VIII. As we approached the end of the tour, the group were also pointed to a Mermaid in the roof of the Abbey, which has now become a phenomenon for the visitors to the historic site.

Thanking Lesley McCreadie for the insightful tour, we ventured down to Pagent Gardens for a well-deserved lunch break (where treats included a mix of tiffin, flapjack and oranges!) As the sunny conditions pressed on into the afternoon, we were able to begin our workshop with Pippa in the gardens. As the session got underway, our first challenge wasn't far behind us, as Pippa put our skills of short and snappy storytelling to the test from what we did earlier in the morning. With a stricken match acting as our stopwatch, the group had to cope with the pressure of this initial challenge. Once the group had shared stories about stray cats, stolen army helmets and lunches, everyone pulled together in smaller groups to use our imaginations in adding descriptions of the Papa New Guinea myth of dogs who came to meet in a large castle. From the bizarre to the elaborate, we all shared some wacky ideas on how the dogs would take off their tails or how the gran castle may look on top of the mountain.

Following that, we all allocated ourselves prescribed words on a story to be fed back to the group once we had written something on paper. With words as wide-ranging as 'cardigan' or 'yellow bush' being thrown in, we all probably did rather well in the circumstances. We realised our stories were more entertaining  and engaging if we worked as collaboratively as a group. With the workshop done for now and the group ready to apply their new story telling skills to set some very interesting stories for our Caches, we made our way back with our imaginations switched on for planning the next stage! From our research we know some very interesting facts about St Aldhelm who was a remarkable character himself,and a great one for adventures, we have his poems and his riddle and with our new story telling techniques we want to bring his time in the Dark ages back to life.

Dorchester and the Great War

Visitors to the Corn Exchange on Friday 8^th August can step back in time to experience what life was like in Dorchester during the Great War.

This year marks the centenary of the beginning of World War One in which over 4,500 Dorset soldiers lost their lives.

The free event has been organised by a consortium of partners including Dorchester Town Council, Dorset Youth Association, Dorset County Museum, The Keep Military Museum, a local historian and Dorchester Rotary Club. Any money raised will go to The Rifles “Care for Casualties” appeal.

1st Battalion Dorsets manning Trench 38 Hill 60 – Ypres Spring 1915. Soldier making a makeshift periscope to view German Trench © The Keep Military Museum 2014

The Mayor will open the event at 10:00am and at 10:30am Dorset Youth Association will launch the ‘Walking in their Shoes’ First World War Interactive History trail funded by a grant of £28,200 from the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF).

There will be talks by local historian Brian Bates and Curator at the Keep Military Museum, Chris Copson.

“It is important to commemorate the sacrifice and the achievement of British soldiers in the war.”

“It was a war of ordinary people achieving extraordinary things.”

“If what we are doing gives people a more accurate idea of what the war was like, that’s very important,” says Chris.

Leaving the Somme Trenches 1st or 6th Dorsets © The Keep Military Museum 2014

Visitors will even be able to dress up in Tommy Uniform, listen to a performance of World War One songs and try some rationed WW1 stew and cake. Bring any WW1 memorabilia to be identified by an expert and share your WW1 family history stories at the listening post. Children can take part in a trench art workshop and have a go at geocaching along the ‘Walking in their Shoes’ trail. The Durnovaria Silver Band will round up the day with a performance at 3:00pm before doors close at 7:00pm.

For further information please contact Steve Newman on 01305 266861 or email s.newman@dorchester-tc.gov.uk.

Camping at Avon Tyrrell

Here are a few photos from the Avon Tyrrell camping trip on the 13th to 14th June.

James and Ben hard at work

Michael in the off road BOMA 

Walking in their Shoes group with staff from Avon Tyrrell

Calzone making 

Finishing the walk at Avon Tyrrell

Camping at Avon Tyrell - 13/14th June

By Jack, Michael, and James.

At Avon Tyrrell

This weekend the group stayed at Avon Tyrrell outdoor activity centre, to learn navigation skills (useful for setting up our walks) and experience life as a First World War soldier. We pitched and slept in Bell tents, which involved an individual supporting a pole whilst others set the tent over the top. Sleeping in the tents was an enjoyable experience, despite the fact there was rain full which woke us all up.

The activities for the weekend included, map reading tasks, in which we split into teams of three and explored the area in search of check points, within thirty minutes. This exercise enabled us to learn orienteering skills to help us with our walk.

Our Pizzas!

Ashley leading the way.

Making the Hay Box

In addition, the group also challenged themselves to prepare and cook a pizza on a camp fire, with only basic equipment available, similar to the conditions soldiers would have had in the trenches. We had create a  pizza dough using gluten free flour, which proved a challenge to the making of the base, as it lacked in texture. We then added tomato sauce on top and grated cheese along side a pepperoni topping. The pizza was then folded and placed on top of a wire sheet above the camp fire. We allowed twenty minutes for it to be cooked and the result was a messy and soft pizza pasty which was not pleasant to eat. We also cooked a replica Maconchie stew similar to Irish stew which soldiers would have ate during the war, a definite improvement from the pizza disaster! We even practiced keeping the food warm in our own hay box.

Michael in the buggy

On Saturday the group ventured across Avon Tyrrell  into the New Forest where we individually navigated the entire group in order to return to our original destination. We ventured through open moors and through dense woodland of the forest, leading to open roads. One of our volunteers Michael drove a an all terrain BOMA buggy which allowed him to cross difficult areas that he otherwise would have not been able to. The walk was equally enjoyable as well as a challenge for all of us because of the hot temperature. The purpose of this walk was to enable us to set up our own walks whilst improving our navigation skills and team work. This was also to try and replicate the journey of a soldiers training for war.

The weekend showed us we were able to work well outdoors as a team and behave responsibly. We learned skills in navigation, cooking, communicating and map reading.We are very grateful to our tutors, Damon and Lewis, at Avon Tyrrell for their support and giving us fun activities to do. We would love to come back again soon!