Home Front in WWI

We had a World War II Home Front Exhibition in Ruyton (2005) and now Colleen Hughes is putting together a World War I Home Front Exhibition in West Felton.

The Exhibition will also include a special commemorative church service and supper in June.

This is not about war but about those who were left behind, what was it like in West Felton and surrounding area.  For instance, who lived in your house, what do you know about them.  What businesses were operating?  How much was a pound of butter or a pint of beer?   What were people wearing etc.  Any information you know about the years of 1914 - 1918.

Tony Harrison of West Felton is a professional family history researcher and is working on the names on the West Felton War Memorial.  He points out that hardly anyone owned  cameras at that time but here in Ruyton we had a professional photographer - does anyone know of family pictures taken by Frances James Cocks who lived at Riversdale opposite the garage and next to our village shop.

Colleen is going through the West Felton Monumental Inscriptions for two local churches looking for clues like - if John Smith died in 1920 at Manor Farm and his wife died in 1927, then the chances are they were both living there for the duration.

If you would like to be involved in this research or have anything which would add to Colleen`s research, do please contact her:-

DesColleen.Hughes@btinternet.com        or        01691 610 300

--   Yoland Brown  Brownhill House B&B, Ruyton XI Towns, nr. Shrewsbury SY4 1LR  ShACC - Shropshire Alternative Car Club  www.eleventowns.co.uk  www.eleventowns.com  www.ShACC-uk.org  Tel:  01939 261 121       Fax:  01939 260626