World War One in the Vale Home Front Remembered

Pershore community groups celebrate winning £20,000 from Heritage Lottery Fund and launch new First World War Home Front history project with cake and coffee.

During the Mayor's Coffee Morning between 10am and 12pm on 14 November at Pershore Town Hall, members of Pershore WI and Pershore Heritage & History Society will launch their new project and give visitors a chance to find out more about the lives of the town's residents who kept the home fires burning during the First World War.

Pershore WI and Pershore Heritage & History Society are celebrating the recent award of £10,000 to each from the Heritage Lottery Fund First World War: Then & Now programme.

Over the next year, Pershore WI members will celebrate the centenary of their branch, founded in November 1916 as one of the first Women's Institutes in the county. They will uncover the lives of its original members, including Viscountess Deerhurst of Pirton, Mrs Beynon, wife of the manager of the Pomona Jam Factory, and the wives, daughters or servants of engineers, bricklayers, tradesmen and market gardeners in the area.

Pershore Heritage & History Society will be investigating 'How the Pershore Plum Won the War'. The fruit and vegetables grown in the Vales of Evesham and Pershore were essential to the nation's food production. Many local residents combined market gardening and fruit growing with other trades such as pub landlord or wheelwright.

Supported by Professor Maggie Andrews, students from the University of Worcester, the Voices of War and Peace World War One Engagement Centre, Pershore Library staff and Pershore Town Council, both groups will work with artists, an oral historian and a film-maker to record their discoveries, and have a year's worth of exciting events and activities planned.

Anne Jenkins, Heritage Lottery Fund’s Deputy Director of Operations, said: “The impact of the First World War was far reaching, touching every corner of the UK. The Heritage Lottery Fund has already invested more than £70million in projects large and small that are marking this Centenary. Our small grants programme is enabling even more communities like those in Pershore to explore the continuing legacy of this conflict and help local young people in particular to broaden their understanding of how it has shaped our modern world.”

The groups will produce touring exhibitions, a WW1 Pershore Town Trail and films of Food Preservation Demonstrations. They will also host a number of craft activities for children in the local library and other public events.

A book based on the groups' research, How the Pershore Plum Won the War, will be published and available for sale in time for the Pershore Plum Festival in 2016.

Come along to our Home Front Remembered coffee morning to learn more about our plans and discoveries so far, and be prepared to share your own family stories too.

For further information about World War One in the Vale or to get involved, see our website https://ww1inthevale.wordpress.com