Page 123 - Mercian Eagle 2014

Community Group work
In addition to the main project we
have assisted a number of community groups from throughout Cheshire as
they commemorate the centenary of the outbreak of the Great War. One of the most rewarding of these projects was working with the Willaston Village Festival Society
on their HLF funded project entitled ‘Lest We Forget – Willaston Remembers Its
First World War Fallen’ which has focused on researching the background of the
34 names recorded on the village war memorial. In addition they have planned
a wide ranging programme involving members of the community young and old. As part of the programme, some of the villagers visited the museum and recorded their memories of the effects of the war on their families, recalling the effects of mustard gas on their relatives and the ill-health they suffered as a result.
From the Archive
Work on digitizing the archives is on-going with our archives team working hard to get material ready for a Great War blog and for use in the museum. One of the personal diaries the volunteers have been working on is that of Private Joseph Milward. Joseph served with the 15th Battalion and was killed on 23rd September 1917 aged 23 years. We are using his story in our new education session about the Great War for primary school children. The completed diary will also be displayed in the museum in the future.
New Acquisitions
The museum has received a number of exciting new donations over the past year. Recently we have acquired
a Prisoner of War armband which was worn by Charles Osbaldiston, 6th Battalion Cheshire Regiment while
in German hands during the Great War. A rare find the armband can now be viewed
in the Great War gallery alongside a number of other POW related items.
A new temporary display showcasing
the work of Nick Bailey, a local artist has also been opened recently. It consists of
a collection of three collage works with a Great War theme. Two of the works relate to the service of the artists’ grandfathers Cecil Lear Bailey and Frank Leighton Jones, the other depicts the war in the air and is called ‘The last flight of Manfred von Richthofen’. Originally displayed at the annual Keele University ‘Open Art’ exhibition they will remain on display until 2015.
Staff
Changes
In the last 12 months both of our Museum Assistants Mark Leese and Ken Baker have retired. They gave many years of outstanding service and will be missed by all connected to the museum. The new front of house team is now in place, our new assistants are Alex Hughes and Joe Murphy. We also said farewell to Major Eddie Pickering who retired on New Year’s Eve – he won’t be gone long though as he is returning as a volunteer to do outreach talks for us.
THE MERCIAN EAGLE
121