THE 2014 WW1 CENTENARY IN BARLICK.

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Re: THE 2014 WW1 CENTENARY IN BARLICK.

Post by Wendyf »

Pleased to hear that you are coming to talk at our book launch event Peter. Stephanie's books are always excellent, and this one promises to be bigger and better than ever. We are waiting to hear if we have been successful in a bid for Heritage Lottery funding to get the book printed and to produce good quality exhibition material for our WW1 themed events.
Our archive room has given the Earby History Society a bit of a boost, and we have a number of "active" members who have the time and inclination to research and stage events. Not every history society is lucky enough to have membership with that level of enthusiasm!
We are currently working on a slide show (for our next meeting Feb18th) about drinking establishments in the area...it would be interesting to hear about your time at the Band club. Any photos from the time you were there?
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Re: THE 2014 WW1 CENTENARY IN BARLICK.

Post by Thomo »

Thank you Wendy. I do not have any pics but a few what may be interesting stories, and when I did the fundraising, all of the pubs and clubs were involved. I will put some of this on paper and e/mail you a copy.
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Re: THE 2014 WW1 CENTENARY IN BARLICK.

Post by Thomo »

Finally we have got the local society on board. In regard to the book I am putting together, I have now begun the final read through, spelling and grammar checks and the inclusion of updated information.
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Re: THE 2014 WW1 CENTENARY IN BARLICK.

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Much has happened since my last post on here and all of this is now taking a new direction. The main emphasis of this years Heritage Weekend is to based around the Rohilla Tragedy and I have been asked to continue to work with all interested parties to achieve whatever is possible. The Chairman of the Town Council, Ken Hartley has been asked if he will continue with his organisation efforts, not just in respect of this, but Remembrance Sundays as well, Kens period of Chairman ends shortly. The Heritage weekend, 6th/7th of September 2014 will now include as much input concerning the Rohilla as we can manage, ie, the William Riley, and the display of related material from Whitby. If all goes well the book about Barnoldswicks Contribution to Conflict will be launched at this event. In regard to this, the original intention was that all proceeds after cost would go to Service Charities, but in view of the interest shown by the Local Council and the help that they propose, I will let them decide where the monies go. The Duke of York, through his staff has expressed his regrets of being unable to assist in last years re-dedication, yet has shown a keen interest in how it went, and, asked to be informed of any future projects through his personal Equerry, who's contact details I now have, we may yet get something from that quarter.
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Re: THE 2014 WW1 CENTENARY IN BARLICK.

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I am working on a display for the Centenary which will be about Barnoldswick Sailors who died in the two World Wars. There were 15 in WW1 and 17 in WW2 and I have managed to pull all of the CWGC certificates for all of them, these include the Men of the Rohilla. The next task is to remaster the certificates to include other details and pictures, Here is a sample of an original:- This time I will get it right!

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Re: THE 2014 WW1 CENTENARY IN BARLICK.

Post by Thomo »

At last after a fairly long wait, a letter from the RAF Events Team. We will be getting a flypast for this event on Saturday the 6th of September. And not just any old aeroplane, the big one, THE LANCASTER BOMBER. To say that I am "made up" is an understatement. There is quite a bit of paperwork do deal with, grid refs and so forth, they have told me what they need to know and this will be sorted PDQ. The time will be posted here later. All we need now is good weather on the day. YES!!!!! This one:-

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Re: THE 2014 WW1 CENTENARY IN BARLICK.

Post by David Whipp »

Well done Peter.
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Re: THE 2014 WW1 CENTENARY IN BARLICK.

Post by PanBiker »

City of Lincoln / Phantom of the Ruhr when I got up close and personal with her on my trip to Coningsby.

Well done and if you need a hand with any of the paperwork give us a shout. I organised the Dakota a few years ago with the BBMF so know the drill and requirements for the CAA etc. Don't forget Barlick Airport! September might still be in their flying season.
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Re: THE 2014 WW1 CENTENARY IN BARLICK.

Post by Stanley »

I'd forgotten we had an airstrip. Is it still on the Bracewell road opposite Carr House?
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Post by Thomo »

Indeed it is and I will be advising the owner in due course.
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Re: THE 2014 WW1 CENTENARY IN BARLICK.

Post by Tizer »

You don't do things by halves, do you Thomo? I wish you clear skies and fair weather!
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Re: THE 2014 WW1 CENTENARY IN BARLICK.

Post by Thomo »

An information sheet about the event has been produced, this will now be attached to all invitations for participation, and will be used in the future with any updates for the benefit of the local press. Another idea which is interesting has been put to me today, it involves producing a workable way of presenting something that may be shown, or read out in the local schools to give the pupils some idea of what this Centenary is all about, and with emphasis on its impact here in Barlick. The knowledge is in place, its the presentation that could be difficult, again any ideas are always welcome. This is the current information sheet:-

BARNOLDSWICK HERITAGE WEEKEND.

This years Heritage event is planned to take place on Saturday the 6th and Sunday the 7th of September 2014. In order to make this event the Towns contribution to the Centenary of World War One. It is proposed that it becomes a “Wartime Weekend”, the main focus to be based around the loss of His Majesty’s Hospital Ship Rohilla on the 30th of October 1914. At that time there were 15 Barnoldswick Men on board, 12 of them lost their lives in the disaster, all were members of the Royal Naval Sick Berth Reserve, and the St. John Ambulance Brigade. It is also intended that this event should cover the broader spectrum of the effects of conflict on the Town of Barnoldswick, 319 Service personnel from here died in WW1 and a further 74 in WW2. As the loss of the Rohilla is to be made the main feature, it will come under the heading of the Towns Maritime participation in the two World Wars, 15 Sailors died in WW1 and 17 in WW2, also included will be the loss of RMS Lusitania due to enemy action, this also had an impact on the Town. Each of the Men from the Royal and Merchant Naval Services will be represented by a re-worked copy of their CWGC Certificates with extra information added. Negotiations are well under way to have the restored Lifeboat “William Riley” brought here from Whitby for the weekend, this boat was used in the attempts at rescue of the Men and Women from the Rohilla. The Lifeboat Museum at Whitby will also be mounting a display of Rohilla related items.

As this event is being planned to encompass the effects of conflict on the Town over both Wars, and in light of its significant aviation history, 17 WW2 casualties from the Royal Air Force, mostly Bomber Command, and the work done by Rolls Royce, an application was made in October 2013 to the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight for a “Fly Past”, after many months of waiting, a letter arrived from their events team on Friday the 21st of February 2014 stating that we are scheduled for a fly past by their Lancaster Bomber, City of Lincoln on Saturday the 6th of September, weather permitting.

The Heritage Weekend makes use of the marquee in the Town Square after being cleared of its former use as the “Barnoldswick Beach” The large quantity of left over sand is usually given to the local football club. It is proposed that this year, the sand is “bagged” and arranged in a “defensive” manner around the marquee, it is also hoped that this could be manned by a suitable re-enactment group. In addition it is suggested that a WW1 bunker be built in the marquee to include a large screen TV showing WW1 related media coverage.

The Centenary by its very nature is fundamentally a commemoration of a tragic event in our history, yet in order to make it more palatable, particularly to the young, it needs to be made interesting to all, and that is what we are trying achieve, there will be ample scope for more sombre events throughout the coming years. We hope to make it special and appealing to all age groups, and in order to achieve a good result there is still much to do.
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Re: THE 2014 WW1 CENTENARY IN BARLICK.

Post by David Whipp »

Thanks Peter.

These ideas need to be discussed by the town council; I've emailed suggesting we meet for a chat.

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Post by Thomo »

The acceptance slip and relative documents have been sent to the BBMF Events Team and the CAA, Form DPA 1920, today via e/mail.
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Re: THE 2014 WW1 CENTENARY IN BARLICK.

Post by Thomo »

My new desktop:-

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Re: THE 2014 WW1 CENTENARY IN BARLICK.

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As this project develops it is constantly changing and another new idea has been passed to me. This is in the form of a short presentation to be given to the four Infant Schools in Barnoldswick, to give the children some idea of the effect that the conflict in the two Wars had upon this Town. This was never going to be easy, and so I have asked one of my Nieces who is an Infant School Teacher for her help. What I do appreciate is that this must be something that they will understand without difficulty, and will hold their attention, also something that they will remember. maybe even pass on to their parents! How this can be delivered is the hard part I believe, sombre being out of the question. My Niece has suggested a competition between the four schools for poetry and artwork, as this could give the children something to focus on. The presentation must therefore be something that will generate ideas, suggestions are of course always welcome. Something that caught my attention today whilst editing the 1917 chapter of the book was details of two collections of WW1 Militaria that were both here in Town when I was much younger. One was collection of material brought together by Doctor Glenn, and the other a large collection of medals and cap badges owned by a man who had no descendants. I have seen both before 1960 and have never heard of either since, and now I wonder where they are? both would have been extremely valuable.
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Many mails have again gone to hopefully interested parties concerning this event, I can say with all honesty that "I am glad that my life does not depend upon an answer". The only thing achieved in the past few days is the relocation of the flag in the garden, removed in a gale last year. Its not that I am impatient, but I cannot stand apathy. I do not give a fishes tit for the political outpourings and constant history lessons, or concerns about what the rest of the world is doing. What I do care about is what may or may not happen here in Barlick, and if it does happen, then it needs must be done well.

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Since my last post I mailed the Secretary of the Duke of Lancaster's Regiment, Colonel Chris Owen at Fulwood Barracks Preston, and was amazed by an almost immediate reply asking for further information This I have presented to him, we will now see what happens next.
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Re: THE 2014 WW1 CENTENARY IN BARLICK.

Post by Stanley »

" I do not give a fishes tit for the political outpourings and constant history lessons"
Peter, surely the whole point of remembering WW1 is to recognise history?
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Post by Thomo »

That I well aware of, make no mistake. What I am trying to achieve here on behalf of the Town of Barnoldswick and its people, is to help to produce an event that will be acceptable and memorable for many years to come. This is something that I feel passionate about, and if we are to get a good result, it needs to be done well. I was asked to help and that is just what I am trying to do. We did well last year and this time it needs to be as good if not better. Last year it was my privilege to work with the Town and Borough Councils, and at no time were my personal political persuasions even mentioned or questioned. In order to achieve success I am willing to work with anyone who has this Towns best interests at heart. I have had to stick my neck out several times in order to get a result, and will continue to do so, what I do not like or even understand is apathy. A good many mails and letters have gone out to individuals and groups and in most cases there has been nil response, this I find disappointing and discourteous, it would be easy to just think why bother and give up, but that is not how I am.
A good example here, and one that has just been resolved, is my attempt to get HRH The Duke of York involved. I have a letter here apologising for his not being able to participate last year due to overseas commitments, and the fact that he was not made aware of what was happening until after the event. This letter included the details for contacting his personal Equerry, 3 mails were sent without reply. As a result and feeling a bit brassed off, I have just spoken with Lt. Cdr Michael Hutchinson, Equerry to HRH. He has told me that they are overwhelmed at present due to the Centenary and apologised, we would have been contacted in due course. What I asked for has now gone to top of the pile, this episode is now back on track, we have also established a good rapport for further communication. Its quite simple really, "if you do not ask, you do not get". The hard part is getting in touch with whoever may be interested in taking part.
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I have now lost track of the number of times that I have commented here on the lack of ease of communications. When one considers the options available it is easy to assume that a lack of interest may apply, or even worse, tardiness. I believed that I had got used to this but then something happened yesterday that caused the safety valves on my enthusiasm generator to lift and dump the contents. A double rum ration failed to get the process working again, and a repeat of this today has proved unsuccessful. In short the fire has gone out, albeit that this is probably only a temporary situation, all work has ceased, not only on this project, but on the book as well, and the clock is ticking. It is over two years ago now since I uninstalled my flight simulator and the desk mounted control systems, flight control yoke and throttles etc. to make way for what I was doing, it may be making a reappearance soon.
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Re: THE 2014 WW1 CENTENARY IN BARLICK.

Post by plaques »

Thomo, don't give up hope. The number of times I've sent e-mails with no reply must run into hundreds. Occasionally I may see the person in the flesh and ask about the e-mails. The normal reply is , " Oh I don't often read my e-mails and when I do get round to it there are so many I just dump the lot". The best responses are where I offer some information that they may use. Call it a bribe if you like, you shouldn't have to do it, but it appears to work. Please don't give up.
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Post by Thomo »

Thank you plaques. What I was waiting for was not a response in this case, it was a letter, e/mail or phone call, nothing arrived and I was left with 2nd hand information after the event. It has gone deathly quiet as well, I will not go into detail as I have no wish to upset, embarrass or offend anyone. Quite simply it bloody well hurts and needs to be resolved quickly.
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Re: THE 2014 WW1 CENTENARY IN BARLICK.

Post by Thomo »

Situation resolved, apology received and accepted.

Last night Ken Hartley sent me this:-

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It is the Roll of Honour from the Union Working Men's Club (Pigeon Club) now in the safe hands of the Library. There are two names of WW1 dead on it that do not appear on the War Memorial, Possibly G. Dewhurst and either F or H Barritt. it is possible that they were members who lived elsewhere. A quick look at CWGC revealed several possibilities, a more in depth investigation will take place later. I have pictures of other Rolls of Honour from WW1, some were in Chapels that are no longer there, Calf Hall Rd Wesleyans being a prime example. It would be of interest to know what became of them, I will post the pictures later.
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Re: THE 2014 WW1 CENTENARY IN BARLICK.

Post by Thomo »

Invitations for participation have gone this morning to two more groups: Aero Engines Carlisle and the re enactment group based around Haworth.
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