Did you know that only one woman in Scotland appears on a War Memorial for those who died in the First World War? Her name is Roberta Robertson and she appears on Dumfries War Memorial. What was she doing in the War? How did she die? why was she commemorated?
Have you ever considered how animals contributed to the War effort and continue to serve in conflicts around the world? Hear stories of animal bravery, learn about the Dickin Medal, and did you know that a bear served in the Second World War and then moved to Scotland?
If you’d like to arrange an assembly or presentation to your whole school or class (either in person or remotely via videolink), please email or phone us to arrange something different for your school this Armistace Day. We can guarantee unusal accounts students are not familiar with, a local perspective on the War, knowledgeable speakers with entusiasm for the subject and lots of images and objects. Hope to hear from you soon!
We’re very grateful to Stephen Glencross of the Carlisle Animals in War organisation for loaning the Museum this object. It will go on display shortly with the Dickin Medal (currently on loan from the Royal Pigeon Racing Association) which can be seen in our First Floor Animals in War display. Alastair Ritchie, one of the young people completing an SVQ in Museums and Galleries Practice at the Museum did a little research to find out more about this object, this is what he discovered…
National Pigeon Service badge.
The badge has the symbol of the NPS (National Pigeon Service) on it. This organisation was founded in 1938 by Major W.H.Osman to look after and continue to breed pigeons for use in military communication. As a result between 1939-1945 it supplied 200,000 to the RAF, British Army, Intelligence Service and the Special Section of Army Pigeon Service.
Including one called, Commando, a red chequer cock bird that became a recipient of the Dickin Medal for having flown more than ninety trips into and out of France all during the occupation, carrying confidential messages including the location of German troops, industrial sites and injured British soldiers.
(above Commando served 1939-1945)
The Official issue number on our badge is 15093 with silver plate and enamel. Stephen Glencross told us it belonged to Mr Chamkin who was in the World War Two Signal Corps.
It is also engrained with J.R Grant London a company that sadly closed in 2016 after 71 years of business.
Some of our young volunteers looked at a recent donation to the Museum this morning: two scrapbooks from World War Two. Someone during the War carefully cut out newspaper articles and stuck them into books. These books are now in the Museum’s care. Here, they have chosen a selection of pages that interested them.
Jake chose this page below. ” I found this page very interesting as it tells the story of a boy – roughly my age – called Ronnie Sanderson who worked for 14 hours after a lodging house was bombed and destroyed. Ronnie’s mother had died in a previous Air Raid and his brother was injured and in hospital after helping in a rescue effort. Ronnie was tasked with passing on messages and also helped with moving debris. When asked about what he had done he said he did “nothing special”. At the time he was described as one of Britain’s Bravest Boys.”
Neil chose this picture because: “This picture shows the dramatic events during the evacuation at Dunkirk, it also shows shocking pictures of civilian ships carrying many troops across the channel being escorted by military vessels which I found very interesting and quite an insane sight especially considering how many men were on that beach and how many ships arrived on the coast of France to rescue them.”
Finn chose this picture because: “This article shows the devastating events in the year of 1940 during WW2, and how it show an in depth description of the events in chronological order. An amazing donation to work with”.
Andy picked the page below and said, “I have chosen this page as it shows a time period of the War when countless people died in the War when Britain attacked Norway in the early stages of War as a strategy to obtain control of the North Sea.”
These young people are participating in our new Saturday Club: a new event each Saturday morning for young people who want to learn about how Museums work. To find out more, email: manager@devilsporridge.org.uk
Welcome to the Devil’s Porridge Museum Podcast!
Through conversations and interviews, our volunteers and other from the local community will be sharing their personal stories and memories with The Devil’s Porridge Podcast team.
In this weeks podcast we talked to David Carter about the Royal Fusiliers in World War One. David was meant to do a talk at the Museum about this subject in August which unfortunately had to be cancelled due to COVID-19.
One regiment which over the course of the war recruited thousands of men was the Royal Fusiliers. The talk will look at the way in which volunteers from the Empire became involved in different battalions. Some battalions were formed which took account of the knowledge of the volunteers, other men were incorporated into battalions comprised of British volunteers. Their experiences varied, from the time given for initial training, to where they were posted and what they had to do.
If you are interested in podcasting and would like to learn more about how to create your own podcast, then you might be interested in the Museums Podcasting workshop happening on Sunday December 13th from 6:00pm – 7:30pm. For more information contact: steven@devilsporridge.org.uk
You can listen to the podcast below:
The Devils Porridge Museum collects and displays objects relating to World War One and Two and objects relating to the military and industrial heritage of our area after 1945 (including Chapelcross Nuclear, Scotland’s first Nuclear Power Station). This inevitably means that we have a large collection of gas masks in our collection. These objects are precious social records of wartime experiences but they also contain asbestos in the filter (it wasn’t known at the time the damage that asbestos dust can do to the respiratory system).
Desray removing a Gas Mask from display
We’re very pleased to have received funding from Museums Galleries Scotland to manage the asbestos in our gas mask collection. This has enabled us to hire a professional from Kadec Asbestos Management to work with the objects and make them safe. Bill, from Kadec, has been at the Museum for the past two days and yesterday he spoke with two of our young employees, Desray and Alastair, about his work. Desray and Alastair are completing their SVQ Level 3 in Museums and Galleries Practice. Some of the units focus on collection care and this was a good opportunity for them to find out about the work of external consultants within the Museums sector.
Desray and Alastair speaking with Bill from Kadec Asbestos Management about his work.
The Museum offers opportunities for training and volunteering to all members of our community, if you’d like to find out more about our work, email: info@devilsporridge.org.uk or phone: 01461 700021.
Explore the story of HM Factory Gretna, the greatest factory on earth and discovery the origins of the Devil’s Porridge as part of our relaxed openings during the School October Holidays.
Our relaxed openings are designed to provide a quieter experience for SEND families and other visitors requiring additional support.
Stay late after the Museum has closed to the general public on Sunday October 11th (4pm till 6pm)
or get in early on Saturday October 17th (8am till 10am).
Booking is essential for both our Late and Early Relaxed Openings!
Bookings and arrival times will be spaced at 10 minute intervals to help with social distancing within the museum.
Arrival times for our Relaxed opening can only be book by contacting Steve Bogle our Access and Learning Officer directly either by phone on 01461 700021 or by email steven@devilsporridge.org.uk
The Devil’s Porridge Museum Story will help you become familiar with the museum before you arrive and a ZOOM introductions to meet Steve before your visit can also be arranged.
Welcome to The Devils Porridge Museum Podcast!
The Devils Porridge Museum Podcast has been created as part of an inter-generational oral history project. The project is now available for you to listen to online.
Through conversations and interviews, our volunteers and others from the local community will be sharing their personal stories and memories with The Devils Porridge Podcast team.
This week on the Podcast we talk to David Ramshaw – author of ‘The Carlisle Ship Canal’. He was due to give a talk on the book in July but it was cancelled due to lockdown.
The Carlisle Ship Canal had a very short life compared to most canals. Construction work began in 1819 and the canal was closed in 1853. As a result there is probably less known about it than many other canals which still exist today.
More episodes will follow over the coming weeks, so please come back and listen to more installments throughout the summer.
If you would like to get involved in the project to share your own stories and memories or if you would like to find out more about joining our production team please contact: steven@devilsporridge.org.uk
You can listen to the podcast below:
Before re-opening on Tuesday we thought that we should create a video showing the public that the Museum is keeping within the current Government guidelines and that it is a safe place to visit. If you would like to book a visit to the Museum email: info@devilsporridge.org.uk with a date and time you wish to visit.
In the video we covered the Governments FACTS about COVID-19.
F – Face coverings in enclosed spaces. The Museum would like to ask all of its customers to wear a mask when walking around the Museum unless medically exempt. (all staff members will also be wearing face coverings).
A – Avoid crowded spaces. The Museum has set up a queuing system outside so visitors can safely queue before entering the Museum.
C – Clean your hands and surfaces regularly. The Museum has set up multiple hand sanitising stations around and will have volunteers and members of staff cleaning every surface after it is used.
T – Two metre social-distancing. There is a one way system set up throughout the Museum and we have assigned zones to specific parts of the Museum which only one group of up to five people from the same household will be allowed entry.
S – Self-isolate. If you have any symptoms of COVID-19 please do not visit the Museum and let us know you are not coming if you have booked a space.
You can watch the full video here for more information and to take a look at some of the measures we have taken in the Museum to make sure it is as safe as possible: https://youtu.be/xw2H7i2xUbk
