The Public Information Day organised by the Tynemouth World War One Commemoration Project in collaboration with North Tyneside Council Customer First Centre in North Shields attracted a huge number of visitors to the centre on Saturday 1st March. So much so that it has been agreed already that the event will be repeated on Saturday, 28th June, 2014, when the Project’s highly acclaimed database will be opened to general public access via the internet.
During the event last Saturday more than 100 persons were given demonstrations of the project’s database and its rich sources of family history; with project volunteers on hand at four dedicated computer terminals in the first floor Library area.
Provisional figures show that more than 1000 people visited the range of stalls and exhibitions on view from 10am to 4pm.
One of the most popular stalls featured the food and rations of the British and German soldiers in the trenches, as well as some of the improvised recipes forced upon the civilian population, as shortages and rationing took a hold of the depleted food supplies available in Britain and Germany.
For differing reasons food was in short supply and the lack of it probably hastened the end of the war in Germany’s case.
For Britain the effects of u-Boat action threatened the continuation of the war at one point and in 1917 it was estimated that the country was down to only three week’s supply of imported foods. For a German family the effects of the Royal Navy’s blockade of European ports around the North Sea meant many staple items became very hard to get. Further pressure on food supplies was caused by the failure of the potato crop in Germany in 1916. In the notorious ‘Turnip winter’ of 1916/17 the staple diet was reduced to numerous variations of very bland inventions around the humble Swede.
Visitors to the event on Saturday were able to sample the delights of Turnip marmalade at the fascinating display on the stand brought by Richard and Jan Crouch which offered many samples and examples of the realities of wartime food and soldiers rations (picture). Richard said “The free recipe sheets went like ‘hot cakes’.
The history of the role of the Scouts in the Great War was on display from the
3rd Tynemouth (Ritson’s Own) Scouts – a troop originated through connections with the Ritson family who owned and operated the former Preston colliery until its closure in1929, situated in the area of Regency Gardens, of North Shields today.
Members of the NET group, preparing to open their new Fishing and Maritime Heritage Centre in Clifford’s Fort on the Fish Quay later this year were on hand to show materials connected to the occupation of the fort by the
Tyne Electrical Engineers (Submarine Miners) in the early years of the 20th century. The group was able to make many contacts and recruit new volunteers for its exciting venture which will celebrate the maritime history of the Borough.
Three of the project’s popular talks given monthly at the Low Lights Tavern on the Fish Quay were repeated during the day.
The overall reaction of visitors was evidence of the strong interest in the story of the war in the community; stimulated no doubt by the increasing attention being paid to the forthcoming centenary of the start of the war in the national and regional media.
The Customer First Centre staff all enjoyed the day with the centre management
commenting:-
‘We have had fantastic feedback from the public and staff. Customer comments included “very interesting”, “Thoroughly enjoyed the day, looking forward to future events”, “We loved the WW1 songs”, “I’ve learned so much today”
The Project will be repeating the event on the occasion of the launch of the database and hopes to bring along additional groups and further interesting aspects of the story of the war for public information.
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