HOWARDS WAY: The Green Howards regimental museum has undergone a £1.7m revamp
ONE of the region’s leading military museums, which was created from the triumphs and tragedies of the First World War, has timed its reopening to coincide with Remembrance during the centenary of the conflict.
The Green Howards Museum, in Richmond, North Yorkshire, has been undergoing a £1.7m revamp and will open its doors at 10am today(SUNDAY NOVEMBER 9) after more than a year of work.
The museum holds the records, recollections and memorabilia of 300 years of regimental history, telling the stories of the lives of the soldiers and the conflicts that have shaped so many generations. During the First World War, when it was known as the Yorkshire Regiment, 65,000 men enlisted, 12 Victoria Crosses were awarded, 7,500 were killed and 24,000 wounded.
Following the war, soldiers and their families donated hundreds of precious objects to the regiment which were put on display when the museum was created in 1922 in what was Trinity church, in the heart of Richmond.
One of the major, and the first great battles of the war at Ypres, is marked with a new Soldier and Son exhibition to mark the reopening.
Museum director and curator Lynda Powell said: “The museum was founded in memory of all those who fought with the Green Howards during the First World War. Our reopening has been timed for Remembrance Sunday to mark the 100th anniversary.
“We are reopening with five new exhibition areas with lots of interactive displays and activities for families and for the first time we will be opening to the public the Normandy Room, which shows life in an officer’s mess,” she added.
Chairman of the Board of Trustees Major General Andrew Farquhar added:”After a year of building work we are ready to reopen and are tremendously excited to welcome everyone to the museum on this Remembrance Sunday.”
Over the past year, work has been ongoing by the museum to take history into the community particularly working with local schools including Hackfall and Hornby and Barton primary schools along with Boroughbridge High School on a Words on War project. They created a major drama production as well as a new film and song that is displayed on YouTube. For more information on the Green Howards Museum and the 100th anniversary go to greenhowards.org.uk/news/whats-on.
What is thought to be Britain’s first online war memorial, which was created in 1996 is being updated. The Northallerton Memorials Project website was created by Steve Metcalfe in memory of his grandfather, Lance Corporal Sidney Metcalfe, of the Yorkshire Regiment. Although wounded three times he survived to inspire his grandson’s interest in the war in which so many had fought and suffered. The aim of the project was to create a permanent record of the life and death of each of the men whose names are recorded on the war memorials of Northallerton, Romanby and Brompton. Go to myweb.tiscali.co.uk/scmetcalfe for further information.
IN Bedale, a field of crosses remembering and commemorating the fallen is the aim of the British Legion. They’re collecting the names of all people killed from the town and surrounding villages to put poppy crosses and flowers in planters around the town building up over the next four years to mark the years in which people died. Secretary Graham Morris is also hoping to enlist support for the Legion’s Everyman Remembered Campaign with backing from local people. Contact him at graham@paceconsultancy.net
