These certificates were being kept in our Museum store along with the Gretna Township school certificates which we posted about previously. The certificates were all donated by the same person and shows which years they were in the different schools during the 1920’s after the First World War.
The certificate below is from 1929 and was awarded for excellence in French, English and Science. The one above was awarded for Excellent Attendance for 2 years in 1928.
These postcards were recently donated to the Museum and are humorous cartoon postcards from WW1 during wartime. You can see all of the postcards below.
These postcards came with a large amount of postcards which were donated to the Museum which included ones with old photos of Gretna and Carlisle on them and also some with birthday wishes etc on them (which we will be posting at a later date).
These postcards are currently being kept in the Museum’s store. They are information postcards about planes from World War One. We have many more of the postcards which we will make posts about in the coming weeks. This is the Bristol scout which was produced from 1914-1916 with 374 being made in that time.
Bristol Scout
The Bristol Scout, powered by an 80hp Gnome engine, first flew on 23d February 1914. After modifications to the undercarriage, wings and rudder, Scouts were sent to the Western Front for operational testing in September 1914 and orders were soon place by RFC (Royal Flying Corps) and RNAS (Royal Naval Air Service). Those for the RFC were delivered in March 1915 either singly or in pairs to reconnaissance squadrons where their duty was to protect the unarmed two-seaters. Armament varied at first from a fixed Lee-Enfield or carbine, a Mauser pistol, rifle grenades to an obliquely aligned Lewis gun. Then a Lewis gun was fixed mounted on the entire centre section firing forward over the propeller and, eventually, the Scout appeared with a Vickers gun installed using interrupter gear, enabling the machine gun to be fired through the propeller. Bristol Scouts also served with the RFC in Palestine, Macedonia and Mesopotamia. They were flown by the RNAS in the Dardenelles campaign and from coastal stations at home.
While looking through our items in the Museum store we stumbled upon some old certificates from the Gretna Township Primary School from the 1920’s just after the First World War.
We also have some photos of the old school and even a photo of one of the registers from the school with some of the pupils names on it from 1917!
The certificates are all from the same person and were given to them each year. We only have three of them from 1920, 1921 and 1924.
We also have some from Annan Academy with the same name on them but we will share these at a later date.
Below you can see some of the old images of Gretna Township School which we have in our archives.
Watch our social media accounts to see more old photos and documents from the local area in Dumfries and Galloway!
Judith Hewitt, the Museum Manager writes…
A little while ago, the Museum was contacted by a gentleman researching British Hondurans and their role in World War Two. Specifically, he wanted to know if we knew anything about people coming to Kirkpatrick Fleming (a village which is less than five miles from the Museum). None of the current staff knew anything about this and we sent out the inquiry to interested (and knowledgeable) volunteers and Trustees (many of whom have lived in and researched the history of the area for decades). What we discovered was really interesting and we thought would share it here.
Andrew Dill, who volunteers with us every Tuesday in the office (with the help of Key Support in Annan) takes up the story and shares what he found out…
British Hondurans in Kirkpatrick Fleming, Dumfries and Galloway
In September 1941, about 100 Hondurans arrived in Kirkpatrick Fleming from Central America. The people who came over helped manage Scotland’s forests as there was a big demand for timber in the War. Out of nearly 2000 men applied, only 541 were recruited and placed at East Linton, Duns and Kirkpatrick Fleming.
Did you know for a 48-hour week they got paid £3!
The Hondurans were housed in huts down from the church. The huts weren’t finished and in a poor condition, there were problems with heating, electricity and inadequate clothing supply.
After a few weeks the weather worsened. The Hondurans started to catch colds and flu, they had a lack of experience and knowledge of illnesses. They began to fear the worst and they may have thought they’d been brought to Scotland to die.
Visit to Kirkpatrick Fleming
On the 10th March, I visited Kirkpatrick Fleming to help with this research about British Hondurans. I got to visit the cemetery where the four forestry workers are buried and found some very interesting and useful information.
There are 4 graves for British Honduran forestry workers are located in Kirkpatrick Fleming churchyard. Kirkpatrick house is in the background.
The 4 workers were called: R Law, C.A Trapp, O Lemon and V Baker.
The workers stayed at Mossknowe in the huts. However, when we visited Kirkpatrick Fleming, there was no sign of any huts remaining. We got to see the land where the huts would have been built on.
I would like to say thank-you to Eleanor (one of the Museum’s Trustees) for taking us to Kirkpatrick Fleming and for sharing her knowledge with us.
Sam Martinez’s experiences
Sam was a woodcutter from the forests of British Honduran- now known as Belize (he wasn’t based in Kirkpatrick Fleming but his experiences were probably quite similar).
He always worked hard and was used to hard labour. He was sent to many different places to continue the forestry work. He went to Ullapool, Golspie, Duns, Tranent and Kinlochewe. He retired at the age of 94 and lived in Edinburgh until he died at the age of 106.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-47049573
Other useful links to websites regarding British Hondurans:
https://canmore.org.uk/site/273036/mossknowe-estate-honduras-camp-german-working-camp-no-612
https://forestryandland.gov.scot/learn/heritage/world-war-two/british-honduran-forestry-unit
A book has been published on this subject:
If you are interested in World War Two in Dumfries and Galloway, the following book (researched by the Museum team and available from our online shop) may be of interest to you:
Recently the Museum was donated a large amount of postcards. Some had old photos of Carlisle and the surrounding area on them which we have already posted on our website, some had funny cartoons on them which we will post soon. These postcards have old photographs of Gretna on them and show images of the Blacksmiths shop, Gretna Hall and the old Parish Church and War Memorial. There is also an image of the Blacksmiths shop which is shown above at the top of the article.
The image below shows the old blacksmiths shop in Gretna
The final image shows the Parish Church in Gretna with the War Memorial and Prince Charlie’s Cottage
You can see all of the old photos of Carlisle here: https://www.devilsporridge.org.uk/old-postcards-photos-of-carlisle
Recently the Museum was donated lots of postcards. Some of the postcards have photos of Carlisle and the surrounding area, some have photos of Gretna (will be posted at a later date) and some have cartoons and birthday wishes etc.
Many of the postcards which we have showing Carlisle during the First World War with one even showing the Carlisle Women Munition Workers Football Team (shown below).
The two images below show the interior and exterior of the Gretna Tavern in Carlisle.
The photo below is of Warwick Road in Carlisle from 1923
The photo below is of the War Memorial Bridge in Carlisle
This photograph shows two young women who worked at HM Factory in World War One. Women were employed in all sorts of roles within the Factory (the greatest one on earth at that time) including working in the bakery, laundry, in the hostels, with chemicals, as nurses, as women police officers and so much more.
The lady who is standing is Alexina Ross Dickson, who was born in 1897. The photograph has the following written on it, “Wishing you a Merry Xmas, 1917” so she was probably 20 years old at the time.
We are very grateful to the people who recently donated this photograph to us. We do not currently have a complete list of all the workers at HM Factory Gretna (one may exist somewhere but it has not yet come to light) and so we are largely reliant on people who donate photographs and tells us the names of their family members and share their involvement.
We have an archive of this material and add any new accounts to a book called ‘Gretna Girls Memories’ on display within the Museum. It is also good to know the name of one more young women who did their war work and made their contribution here.
If you would like to know more about the Gretna Girls and their experiences, this booklet might interest you:
These State Management labels were donated to the Museum recently and feature many different types of alcohol which would be sold at pubs in Cumbria and South West Scotland. These items belonged to a gentleman who was the Head Maltster working in State Management. He worked there from the end of the Second World War until it closed in the 1970s, these items were donated to us by his granddaughter.
The state management of alcohol scheme or the ‘Carlisle Experiment’ saw the government take over many local pubs in the First World War and stop the sale of normal alcohol to substitute it with watered down state made alcohol. This was done to try and deter people from drinking in key areas related to the war, this was done in South Scotland and Cumbria because of HM Factory Gretna (The Devils Porridge Museum tells its story). The State Management scheme lasted from 1915 until around the 1970s, we think the labels which have been donated to us may be from the late 1960’s. Below you can see some of the labels above on bottles which were donated to the Museum from the State Management Scheme which we have on display at the Museum along with a few other bottles of Brandy.
The labels which were donated are of many different types of alcohol and soft drinks. Alcohol was controlled during state management and includes many brands which people may recognise along with a few which were produced by the Government and made in Carlisle.