by Chris Lloyd | In Your Town, Latest, Northallerton
THE fascinating secret stories of the men who appealed against having to serve in the trenches during the First World War are slowly being revealed. Compulsory military service – or conscription – came into effect 100 years ago with the Military Service Act of 1916....
by Chris Lloyd | Centenary, Crook, In Your Town, Latest
PUPILS at Wolsingham School have begun a project to commemorate soldiers who lost their lives in one of the biggest battles of the First World War. Students from years nine to 13 will be visiting France in July to mark the centenary of the Battle of the Somme. The 25...
by Chris Lloyd | Barnard Castle, Centenary, In Your Town, Latest
A NEW database containing a generation of men who served in the First World War is now available thanks to a major project. The Bowes Museum in Barnard Castle is almost two years into a five-and-a-half year project to record details of every soldier from the Teesdale...
by Chris Lloyd | Centenary, Durham, In Your Town, Latest, Peterlee
THE skies above Wheatley Hill were eerily thick with mist as a trio of buglers from the Durham (The Rifles) Company sounded The Last Post shortly after 11am. But, as Father Kenneth Crawford, chaplain to the Durham Light Infantry (DLI) Association, reflected, it was...
by Chris Lloyd | Durham, In Your Town, Latest, People, VC Recipients, War Stories
Welcome, welcome once again Hero brave and bold To the school where you were taught In the days of old. We the present pupils Of Wingate Catholic School Were pleased to hear When death was near You were so brave and cool. HAVING read their poem to their war hero that...
by Chris Lloyd | Darlington, In Your Town, Latest, People
Sergeant John Teasdale survived the Great War thanks to ‘a series of miracles’. His ‘vivid narrative’ of his experiences still chills to the bone. IN August 1915, the Darlington and Stockton Times published a lengthy account written by Sergeant...
by Chris Lloyd | Darlington, In Your Town, Latest, Newton Aycliffe, People
FOR 97 years, Private Edward Henry Pratt lay in an unmarked grave in Darlington’s West Cemetery. But on Wednesday, that wrong will be righted: this soldier of the First World War will be properly recognised when an official headstone is dedicated after brilliant work...
by Chris Lloyd | Barnard Castle, In Your Town, Latest, People
POSTMAN George Thorn was due to be away from home for a fortnight in 1914 when he did his annual stint as a naval reservist. But when war was declared in August he was on board the battleship HMS Caesar – so right away he became a full time gunner in the Royal...
by Chris Lloyd | Centenary, Durham, In Your Town, Latest, People
The sacrifice of war was felt most keenly in Bowburn, a community of 200 homes of which 47 endured the pain of losing a loved one. CLARENCE Street – an ordinary terraced street, in an ordinary pit village, but one which paid an extraordinary price during the First...
by Chris Lloyd | In Your Town
Dog racing will be returning to the Great State of Texas this November, giving struggling breeders,owners, and greyhound racing trainers somewhat of a financial break after a very dismal and uncertain year of track shutdowns. For Victoria residents who are diehard...
by Chris Lloyd | Centenary, In Your Town, Latest, Richmond
Many of the 16 conscientious objectors who were imprisoned in the 19th-century cell block at Richmond Castle left their mark on the walls in the form of drawings and writings. Their graffiti is regarded as a rare visual display of a fascinating aspect of the castle’s...
by Chris Lloyd | Centenary, Darlington, In Your Town, Latest
A workshop focusing on Darlington’s role in the Great War will be held on Tuesday, June 23. As part of the Durham at War project, Darlington’s Crown Street Library will host a session encouraging researchers and historians to uncover the town’s wartime stories. All...
by Chris Lloyd | Centenary, Durham, In Your Town, Latest
THE fate of thousands of British soldiers taken prisoner during the First World War will be revealed by a military historian. Writer John Lewis-Stempel will discuss the fortunes of British prisoners of war during the conflict at a talk taking place at the DLI Museum...
by Chris Lloyd | Centenary, In Your Town, Latest, Tyne & Wear
Fulwell Acoustic Mirror’s historic value went unrecognised for many years and its deterioration led to its inclusion on the Historic England – previously known as English Heritage – ‘Heritage at Risk’ register. This triggered a partnership between Sunderland City...
by Chris Lloyd | Centenary, In Your Town, Latest, Thirsk
A VILLAGE is set to mark the centenary of a group of soldiers being killed following a shell blast in their trench during a notorious First World War battle. Helperby, near Thirsk, North Yorkshire, will stage the commemoration on Saturday, May 2, at 6pm, exactly 100...
by Chris Lloyd | Centenary, Darlington, In Your Town, Latest
A STUNNING red waterfall of knitted poppies is on display at a North-East museum following the completion of a mammoth commemorative project. Darlington’s Head of Steam Railway Museum spearheaded the drive to knit 2,236 poppies to represent each of the North Eastern...
by Chris Lloyd | Darlington, In Your Town, Latest
THE First World War changed the world for women completely. Suddenly, they were catapulted into factories, into trousers and onto the football field. This month’s exhibition in the Darlington Centre for Local Studies in the town centre library charts the changes which...
by Chris Lloyd | Centenary, Hartlepool, In Your Town, Latest
THE Headland at Hartlepool is an exposed place, jutting defiantly into the biting wind blowing off the North Sea. There are long views through white-capped waves down south to Saltburn and up north to Seaham, but today the binoculars chained to the viewing area in the...
by Chris Lloyd | Centenary, Hartlepool, In Your Town, Latest, Scarborough
CHRIS LLOYD tells of the events 100 years ago that literally rocked the nation – the bombardment of the East Coast by German Warships. WHY? PRIMARILY, the Germans wanted to draw sections of the British fleet into the open sea where they hoped to destroy them,...
by Chris Lloyd | Bishop Auckland, In Your Town, Latest, People
BISHOP Auckland had never seen anything like it. The unpolished oak coffin, wrapped in a Union flag, led a procession more than a mile long through the streets to the cemetery. There were so many wreaths and floral tributes that they couldn’t all fit in the funeral...
