AROUND TOWN
Owd Martha’s Yard Battle’s Over:
Photograph courtesy of Elsecar Holy Trinity Church
in the latter stages of the war, it meant that the men with the longest service records were generally the last to be demobilised.
Instead, Churchill’s scheme was based on age, length of service and the number of times a man had been wounded in battle and sought to ensure that the longest-serving soldiers were given priority. As part of the project, students have been researching the lengthy demobilisation process which included a medical examination and equipment inspection before a railway ticket was issued. Still in uniform and with his steel helmet and greatcoat, a soldier would be given a ration book, clothing allowance, advance of pay and Out- of-work Donation Policy before finally making his way home to any family that remained. Home from the Front will be shown on five dates at Elsecar - Wednesday 31st October, Saturdays 3rd and 10th and Sundays 4th and 11th November - with hourly performances between 11am and 3pm. Standard tickets are £10 for adults and £5 for concessions with first-class tickets also available. The Great Place Wentworth and Elsecar team are also hosting other remembrance events across the Armistice weekend, including a DEMOB concert on Friday 9th November with a performance by Thurnscoe Harmonic Male Voice Choir. Tickets are £5 and include an evening of poetry and music from 7.30pm in the Ironworks. On Remembrance Sunday, there will be an Armistice Day Tea at Milton Hall between 2pm and 4pm to celebrate the ending of the bloodshed of the Great War 100 years ago. Tickets are £8 for adults and £4 for children.
Tickets for all three events are available at
www.homefromthefront.co.uk
A Nation’s Tribute
The 11th day of the 11th month is of course pinnacle in the remembrance period as the Commonwealth and other countries gather silently around cenotaphs, laying poppy wreaths in memory and commemoration of those who died in Flanders Fields and beyond.
But to mark the 100th anniversary of the end of the First World War this year, people up and down the country will also be taking part in an illuminating celebration with Battle’s Over: A Nation’s Tribute. As evening falls on Armistice
Day, there will be a chain of 1,000 beacons that will be lit throughout the UK at 7pm to symbolise the light of hope and peace that emerged from the darkness of the war. In South Yorkshire, the volunteers at Owd Martha’s Yard in Hoyland have been fundraising to create and install their own town beacon to enable local people to join in with the commemorations rather than just watching it at home on the television.
The town successfully crowd-funded £1,400 to commission the design and
manufacture of the beacon; this is being made by Hoyland- based Alex Dodson of Burned by Design who handcrafts themed wood burners and fire pits. For last year’s Remembrance
Day, Alex designed and made a commemorative war bench for the Hoyland and District British Legion that now stands proudly in place at Owd Martha’s Yard. The beacon is a modern twist on a standard fire basket design and will feature laser-cut silhouettes similar to the bench along with a plaque with the community garden’s name on it. Like the bench, the beacon is all being made by hand right here in Hoyland and will be painted by staff at BAW Coatings of Sheffield who are also all from Hoyland. In preparation for Sunday 11th November, it will be installed for free by local builders.
Send in your nominations
The Owd Martha’s Yard team is currently looking for a special guest to light the beacon and are working with us at Aroundtown to invite people to nominate someone from South Yorkshire to do the honour.
This could be a veteran who has served their
country, be a relative of someone involved in WWI, or simply someone who has an interesting connection to Hoyland.
If you or someone you know would be interested
in taking part, you can send your nominations with a reason why and a contact number via email to:
amber@aroundtownpublications.co.uk or post them to Aroundtown Magazine, 55-57 Moorgate Street, Rotherham S60 2EY.
The closing date for all nominations is Friday 19th October and the winner will be chosen by us and the Owd Martha’s Yard team. The person chosen must be available to take part in the ceremony on Sunday 11th November 2018 at Owd Martha’s Yard, West Street, Hoyland.
aroundtownmagazine.co.uk 55
On the evening, people are invited to gather at Owd Martha’s Yard to witness the lighting of the beacon followed by a celebration at Belmont Working Men’s Club. At 6.55pm, a solo bugler from Rockingham Brass Band will sound out the Last Post before the town’s new beacon is lit at 7pm by a special guest. At 7.05pm, church bells will peel throughout the nation and beyond in recognition of peace. Spectators are invited to bring a bell with them to ring and the volunteers will have everything from the Belmont’s old steward’s bell to bicycle bells.
After the bells have stopped ringing, vintage singer Jayne Darling will be performing wartime classics at the Belmont in aid of Hoyland and District British Legion from 7.30pm to 10.30pm.
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