Exhibitions bring war stories to life

Churches came alive with vibrant exhibitions designed to commemorate those who lost their lives in the First World War.

Members of Langtoft WI have been enthusiastically creating crafts for their exhibition, which opened on Wednesday, November 7, at Langtoft Church, and was left on display until earlier this week.

The WI group has 45 members and 31 have been part of the new craft group formed earlier this year with every lady contributing something to the vibrant display - whether it be knitted, painted, or baked - and all on the theme of the Flanders Poppy.

Even members who had not been particularly crafty before had been encouraged to get involved by making crepe paper poppies and 660 were created as a result, which were used to decorate window sills, the font, lectern and the pulpit. One member’s sister from Las Vegas even got involved and made the long journey to see the finished result.

Sue Eales, from the WI, said: “You couldn’t fail to go ‘wow’ when you walked into the church and all in the comments from visitors were absolutely amazing.

“When we started this project and group earlier in the year, we never could have imagined it would have such an impact. It’s only a small village but the church was very busy and it’s given the whole village such a boost. We are very proud.”

The craft group will be continuing with other projects on the horizon including the Lincolnshire Show. Sue said the project had boosted both the WI’s relationship with the church; and the local history of the village.

On Sunday afternoon, a patrotic afternoon tea, hosted by Judy Robinson, was held in the church, surrounded by the exhibition.

More than 40 people turned up to enjoy the traditional afternoon tea, which included cucumber sandwiches, scones and cakes.

Judy said: “It was a different way to commemorate the centenary.”

An exhibition was held in Market Deeping - four years on from a similar event hosted by Deepings Remember.

Since that event more village history has been uncovered and the stories of Market Deeping’s troops were told during an exhibition at St Guthlac’s Church over the weekend.

The names of two more Deepings men who lost their lives - Edward Plowright and Charles Savage - were also uncovered and now efforts will be made to have their names added to the war memorial inside the church.

Pauline Redshaw described the exhibition, which included paper doves made by children from the Sunday School, as “incredibly poignant”.

“There were photos all around the church, which was especially moving when we had the Remembrance Sunday service.

“More and more people have been coming forward with their stories and we had to tell them.”

The Barnack branch of the Royal British Legion hosted an exhibition in the village hall from Friday until Sunday, also uncovering the stories of not just the troops that went to war from the village, but the civilians left
behind.

Brian Palmer, who collated the information, even found a story of 17-year-old Victor Barratt who enlisted but only survived for five months. He wrote letters back and some of his accounts were on display.

Artwork, including poppies made from bottles, was provided by children from Barnack Primary to add to the display.

Villagers also provided their own memorabilia from relatives to add to the
event.

“It was very good, especially considering the village hall was only open for three days,” Brian said.

“There was a lot for people to see and I think they appreciated it.”