Project Update 2017

Heritage Lottery Application

2017 was a year of planning and preparation for the forthcoming events to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the end of the Great War in 2018. Throughout November and December the Project prepared and submitted a Grant Application to the Heritage Lottery Fund. The Grant was required to fund the key activities in the Project Plan for 2018.

Clay Work-shop at Abbots Langley School

In October, the Project was invited by Three Rivers District Council to work with multi-media artist Jo Atherton to provide a Clay Work-shop to 60 children at Abbots Langley Junior School. The Project provided each child with the story of a local soldier, and they then worked with the Artist to create and decorate a clay tile inscribed with the name of their particular soldier.

Volunteer Day

The Project held its first Volunteer Day in September. From a stall set up in Abbots Langley High Street twenty-five volunteers were recruited to help with the Project research, web site development, proposed War Walks and dramatic productions.

Passchendaele Vigil

As part of a nationwide initiative to commemorate the start of what was to be popularly called the Battle of Passchendaele, the Project partnered the local Branch of the Royal British Legion to stage a Passchendaele Vigil at St Lawrence Church, Abbots Langley on the evening of 31st January.

Handmade Heritage Day

Working with the Three Rivers District Council the Project attended the Handmade Heritage Day staged at Leavesden Country Park in May. The Project showed the outcome of its research, and giant poppies produced by both Abbots Langley Junior School and Bedmond Academy were also on display.

Langleybury Soldiers’ Stories Completed

By the end of April over two hundred stories of the men and women from Langleybury and Hunton Bridge were finalised and added to the Project records, making a total of nearly 1,000 completed stories of the exploits of local people in the Great War. Work on the men and women from Leavesden will commence in 2018.

New Back to the Front Steering Committee Formed

In April a newly recruited Back to the Front Steering Committee met for the first time. Including representatives from the Abbots Langley Local History Society, Abbots Langley Parish Council, St Lawrence Church, Abbots Langley Branch of the British Legion and the Western Front Association, the objective of the Committee is to plan and co-ordinate, seek funding, and organise events to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the end of the Great War in the local area.

Handmade Heritage Great War History Days

In January and March the Project visited Abbots Langley Junior School and Bedmond Academy to present talks about the lives and times of the local area and local soldiers in the Great War. In the following weeks a Textile Artist worked with the same children to produce giant poppies to be displayed at the forthcoming Handmade Heritage Day at Leavesden Country Park.