Return to the trenches
A
lmost 100 years aſter the end of the First World War life in
the trenches is to be recreated in the middle of Glasgow.
This summer Allied and German trench systems will be built in Pollok Country Park as part of a major experiment to educate a new generation about the horrors of the Western Front.
The Heritage Lotery Fund has awarded a grant of £99,600 to a partnership formed of Northlight Heritage, the University of Glasgow, Glasgow City Council, and Stewart’s Melville College to create the innovative learning facility under the title of ‘Digging In’.
The reconstructions will open to the public on 19th September, during Doors Open Week. From September 2015 to November 2018, Digging In will host a regular programme of public events and school visits. Hands- on learning activities and living history displays will help convey how soldiers managed life in the hostile, stressful environment of the Western Front and the conflict’s impact on communities on the Home Front.
The reconstructions will serve as a hub for learning about many aspects of the war: its impact on mental health; the role of women during
76 September 2015
the conflict; advances in medicine, technology, aerial photography and mapping; influences on contemporary art and literature, and the origins of the Forestry Commission.
Activities and teaching packs will complement classroom learning and support delivery of Curriculum for Excellence Experiences and Outcomes. The reconstructions will be informed not only by field manuals that were issued to troops, but also by soldiers’ diaries and evidence from excavations on the Western Front.
Pollok Country Park was chosen as the site of the reconstruction to highlight the role of Pollok House in the Great War, from its use as an auxiliary hospital for convalescing soldiers to the memorial commemorating the 58 people from the estate who served in the conflict.
“All of the partners involved are committed to enabling our young people to learn about the First World War in a meaningful and interactive way,”
:Sadie Docherty Glasgow’s
Lord Provost.
“All of the partners involved are commited to enabling our young people to learn about the First World War in a meaningful and interactive way,” said Glasgow’s Lord Provost Sadie Docherty. “Digging In is destined to become a huge atraction because we will be recreating, as authentically as possible, the incredibly difficult conditions our military had to endure.
“I’m confident it will have a huge impact on everyone who visits and help highlight the futility of war. Above all, I want as many people as possible to reflect, 100 years later, on the courage and suffering of everyone affected by the conflict. Countless stories of personal sacrifice and trauma punctuate the period. It’s important we do not forget the profound effect the Great War had on the world.”
More than 500,000 Scots volunteered to serve in the military during there First World War out of which more than a fiſth were killed and many thousands more maimed and wounded.
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100