Just Passing Through – Monday 29 January, 7.30pm. Come and join us at Peterborough Museum to hear stories from the Women’s United Total Abstinence Council (WUTAC) visitors’ books. These slim volumes contain poems, sketches and messages which offer a fascinating insight into the servicemen who passed through Peterborough’s East Station on their way to and… Read More
After three years of relentless research by a dedicated group of Vivacity volunteers, the ‘Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Rest’ exhibition is due to open on Saturday 20 January 2018. The exhibition will be held in the main gallery at Peterborough Museum and will run until the Sunday 15 April 2018. This poignant exhibition will provide an… Read More
As part of the Peterborough in the Great War project, children from year 6 classes at Hampton Vale and Hampton Hargate primary schools took part in special workshops at Hampton Library exploring the lives and stories of the soldiers who wrote in the WUTAC guest books. After hearing about the project and the background of… Read More
Andrew Johnstone, the great grandson of Station Master Arthur Ellis, paid a visit to Peterborough Archives recently and spent a couple of hours looking through the Women’s United Total Abstinence Committee (WUTAC) resources. Arthur Ellis was the Station Master at Peterborough East Station at the time of the temperance café and he would have assisted… Read More
A recent trip to The National Archives proved very worthwhile. The volunteer researchers were able to discover a lot of new information regarding a number of servicemen. They were also able to turn several ‘no traces’ into ‘traces,’ which means we now have information on 370 men of the 594 who signed the visitors’ books. … Read More
These lovely ladies are the niece, and great nieces, of Private John Gault who signed the visitors’ books in June 1916. John was from Lossiemouth and served with the Seaforth Highlanders. Sadly both John and his younger brother James died in 1918 just a few weeks apart which devastated their mother. The volunteer researchers have… Read More
What an honour it was to meet Gunnner Drewery’s daughters, Joan and Freda, from Lincolnshire earlier this week. Joan and Freda were able to read their father’s message, which he wrote in the visitors’ book on 11 September 1916, as he stopped for refreshments in the tea room at Peterborough East Station. This very special… Read More
It’s been a busy few weeks for the amazing WW1 volunteers who have attended a number of events to promote the project. The Heritage Festival was well attended and the team managed to chat to lots of people and shared some of the biographies from the website. We were also invited to attend a musical… Read More
Earlier this month we were delighted to meet Doctor Diana Dixon, Honorary Reviews Editor, from CILIP Local Studies Committee (Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals). Diana came along to present the certificate for the 2016 Alan Ball Award to the Peterborough Local Studies and Archives Service. The award was given in recognition of the Peterborough… Read More
We were very fortunate to have a visit from Bill Fulton of the Machine Gun Corps History Project. Bill, the Grandson of a soldier who served in the Machine Gun Corps, gave a fascinating presentation about this very overlooked and short lived unit who, not surprisingly, were also known as the Suicide Club. There are… Read More
