A group of volunteers, who have spent the past three years working on a project to research and highlight local links to the First World War, are to have their work showcased in a new exhibition at Bosworth Battlefield Heritage Centre.
The Bosworth Tommies are a group of 12 adult learners with learning difficulties and disabilities, who are taking part in our Learning for Living and Work programme.
Working closely with the council's Century of Stories project team, the learners, aged between 20 and 70, have been meeting at Bosworth Battlefield to research the history of the area’s links to the First World War.
They have established strong links with Bosworth Historical Society and people living in and around Bosworth, listening to the stories of their families and how they were affected by the conflict.
These stories have been used as the basis for a series of artistic projects which have now been brought together in the new exhibition – A Market Town at War 1914-1918.
The work that has been done by the Bosworth Tommies is impressive and inspirational. I would encourage as many people as possible to visit this exhibition during the year.
Person:Councillor Richard Blunt, cabinet member for heritage, leisure and artsThe exhibition includes a number of handmade ceramic poppies based on the installation at the Tower of London, a stained glass window created as a tribute to the soldiers, and a patchwork depicting aspects of the war, with each square made by members of the group.
The centrepiece of the exhibition is the Bosworth Street – a 3D wood recreation of a market town in the First World War, complete with houses, shops and animals.
As well as showcasing the work of the Bosworth Tommies, the new exhibition also features a section on ‘Real Bosworth 1914-1918', which focuses on the real soldiers and people of Bosworth during the conflict.
The exhibition opens to the public on Saturday, 3 March and runs until the end of the year.