Radcliffe on Trent WWI Group
Hello!
We’re the Radcliffe on Trent WWI Group. This website is based on our research on the impact of the First World War on the people of Radcliffe on Trent, Nottinghamshire. The project began when we were part of a larger Radcliffe U3A WWI project team who put on a commemorative exhibition in 2014. The four of us continued the research after 2014, set up our website and published our findings online. During the four centenary years of commemoration, our focus has been shifting from finding out about local people’s participation in the war to what happened to them afterwards and to memorialisation.
Since November 2016 we have given talks to Nottinghamshire Local History Association, Nottingham Women’s History Group, Aslockton and West Bridgford local history societies and to Radcliffe on Trent U3A group. We played a major part in the village commemoration of Rockley Memorial Park in October 2017 and two of us were interviewed on Radio Nottingham in November about our research on women and nursing. We are linked to the Centre for Hidden Histories, University of Nottingham, First World War Centenary Programme at the Imperial War Museum and the Fighting For Your Heritage Project in Nottinghamshire. We share authorship of the four hundred and fifty men and women’s biographies presented on this site.
Diana Barrett is the website manager responsible for technical aspects. She uploads content, displays material to its best advantage and organises the functionality of the site. She also contributes to content, has written biographies and took the lead in investigating the Holme Pierrepont servicemen. In addition to maintaining the website, introducing new elements and keeping it refreshed, she is currently exploring stories concerning various Radcliffe families, specifically in relation to the experiences of widows and orphans following WWI.
Rosemary (Rosie) Collins is the website editor. She organises the content of the website, writes articles and produces scripts for public talks. Her online articles include ‘Rockley Memorial Park’, ‘How Radcliffe on Trent Servicemen Died’, ‘The Story of Claire Birkin’, ‘Belgian Refugees in Radcliffe and Nottingham’ and ‘Radcliffe on Trent Golf Club and the Great War’. She has also written several of the online biographies. During 2017 she undertook research on Rockley Memorial Park in Radcliffe on Trent and produced The Story of Rockley Memorial Park, Cliffs and Woodlands. She has a keen interest in women’s changing roles in the early twentieth century and is currently researching nursing during WWI with a focus on the work of the Red Cross in Radcliffe on Trent and West Bridgford.
Marion Caunt writes local history articles in addition to men and women’s biographies and produced the ‘Radcliffe Walks’ with accompanying maps for the website. Her particular interest is the social history of Radcliffe on Trent before, during and after the war; as a local historian she uses her knowledge to enhance WWI stories. Well known in the village, she is often approached by residents who have information to add to the research. She is currently exploring local women’s employment during the war. In 2017 her work included researching the stories of the park keepers at Rockley Memorial Park from 1927 to the present. She also produced, with Valerie Cook, A History of the Manor House, Radcliffe on Trent, from 1749–2017.
Pauline Woodhouse specialises in transcribing archive material. She is particularly skilled in extracting fine details from the records and overcoming blind spots in the research. In 2015 she was a volunteer transcriber for the British Red Cross and helped produce the online records of the WWI Red Cross Voluntary Aid Detachment members. She has written several of the website biographies of local women who were Red Cross nurses and is currently exploring wider aspects of nursing during the war. She discovered and wrote the story of Grace Durant, who was a nurse in Malta, having studied original documents held at the Imperial War Museum. She also transcribed her memoirs and letters.
Do get in touch if you would like to discuss matters relating to our website content or if you would like to book us for a talk. Our email address is info@radcliffeontrentww1.org.uk
The website is powered by LizArc Grafix Solutions and was installed by Rez Kalantar at www.lizarcphotografix.co.uk