The Learning Trust (South Leeds) which includes Cockburn High School and six primary schools in Beeston and Middleton, has launched a project to mark the centenary of the outbreak of the First World War and they need your help.
Organisers are interested in your family memories. They are keen to interview local residents to hear family stories about relatives who fought lived and died through the First World War (1914-18). The interviews are to be recorded and placed on a special website.
Peter Nuttall from the trust said:
“We are also requesting the loan of any archive material residents may possess for an exhibition to be based at Cockburn. These would be displayed in lockable showcases, and would be perfectly secure – they might be photographs, letters, post cards, bits of uniform etc.”
The third strand is new research into the wartime industries of South Leeds. Many factories turned to war production, but little is known about what happened in South Leeds. The plan is to draw up a map of war production in the area and organisers are asking to come forward with any information they have, recollections, word of mouth or documents that can help build the picture.
The project is working in partnership with the Royal Armouries, Artforms Leeds, the Marks and Spencer Archive, the University of Leeds and The Imperial War Museum and will culminate in the week of 14 July 2014 with a series of talks, concerts, the building of a replica trench and machine gun nest and an open air commemoration service at Cockburn High School.
The Learning Trust (South Leeds) is a partnership between Beeston Primary, Cockburn High, Hugh Gaitskell Primary, Middleton Primary, Middleton St Mary’s Primary, St Phillip’s Catholic Primary and Westwood Primary schools.
