Men leaving for war
Peterborough Archives Service is embarking on an exciting three year project to bring to life two visitors’ books from the tea stall run by the Women’s United Total Abstinence Council on Peterborough East Railway Station during 1916 and 1917.
Servicemen travelling through Peterborough on their way to and from the front wrote messages, poems or drew pictures to
express their gratitude to the ladies serving them tea and cake.
These slim volumes provide a unique insight into the servicemen who were passing through Peterborough during two years of
the Great War. The men came from across the country and the books highlight the city’s importance as a railway hub during this period.
Project officer with some of the volunteers
The books have been digitised and transcribed and are available on this site. A team of volunteers are in the process of researching the servicemen’s stories. The biographical information, along with photographs and excerpts from the books, will be presented in real time online, via social media and on video screens at relevant sites across the city.
The research will be brought together in a final exhibition at Peterborough Museum which will run from 20 Jan – 8 April 2018. The information will be presented in a variety of formats including creative writing, recorded performance, audio and digital projection.
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