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Canary Girls poster for online talk which happened in 2022.

Canary Girls Online Talk

By Archive

Thursday 9th June 2022

Canary Girls – the forgotten heroines of WW1 and WW2

 

Learn about the important role that munitions workers had in both World Wars & the Canary Girls project which campagins for a memorial to them in the FREE online talk.

 

Book your place and learn more here>

The talk will :-

• Introduce a Canary Girls project, started in Cumbria, campaigning for a memorial to the munitions workers, mainly women, of both World Wars in the National Memorial Arboretum.

• Explain what the women were actually doing in the factories in both world wars; where the nickname Canary Girls came from and the risks they faced daily.

• Look at the precedents they set in challenging gender roles and social class in fashion, sport, factory design and working conditions for women.

• Consider why they are called the forgotten heroines and finally, look at how they have been and are being remembered.

The talk will be given by Valerie Welti. After over 30 years as a teacher in London, in her retirement in Cumbria she has taken on various voluntary roles. One of which, with the Canary Girls Memorial Project, has reignited her interest in history.

THIS IS AN ONLINE TALK. THE ZOOM LINK WILL BE SENT OUT ON THE DAY.

The Extraordinary Life of the Drummond Sisters online talk poster

The Extraordinary Life of the Drummond Sisters.

By Archive

24th May 2022.

The Extraordinary Life of the Drummond Sisters: From Queen Victoria to HM Factory Gretna.

Book your place and learn more here: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/the-life-of-the-drummond-sisters-from-queen-victoria-to-hm-factory-gretna-tickets-328938863997?aff=ebdsoporgprofile

We’re delighted to announce our first event that is happening both in person at The Devil’s Porridge Museum and online on Zoom. Tickets cost £3.

Hear the story of the god daughter of Queen Victoria who became the first female Marine Engineer in Britain and the first woman to be accepted into the Institute of Marine Engineers.

From a quiet early life at Megginch Castle Perth-shire she went on to serve an engineering apprenticeship in Perth & Dundee, overcoming the early prejudice of the engineering world to sail as 2nd Engineer on both Arctic and Atlantic convoys during World War 2 receiving commendations for her action under enemy fire.

With her sister Jean, who had worked at the munitions factory at Gretna during World War One producing ‘The Devil’s Porridge’, she also established the ‘Victoria Drummond Canteen’ in Lambeth which provided food to victims of the London Blitz throughout World War Two.

The Extraordinary Life of the Drummond Sisters talk will be given by Neil McGarva, who as well as spending 40 years working in the Nuclear Industry has also been involve with the Devil’s Porridge Museum since it started 25 years ago as a small exhibition in a local church, and is currently the museum secretary.

If you chose to attend The Extraordinary Life of the Drummond Sisters talk online the Zoom link will be sent out on the day.

Tickets for those who choose to attend the talk in person at The Devil’s Porridge Museum will be sent out on the day.

Some soldiers carved into stone.

Online Talks 2022

By Archive

The Devil’s Porridge Museum is pleased to continue it’s popular programme of online talks and events for 2022. These online talks are all about  a subject which links to local history or the themes of the Museum. All events are free.

Tickets are now avalible for the following online talks.

 

From the Western Front to the Scottish National War Memorial

Tuseday 12th April 2022.

Book on Eventbrite here: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/from-the-western-front-to-the-scottish-national-war-memorial-tickets-308135971987?aff=ebdsoporgprofile

 

The story of illustrator Morris Meredith Williams and his wife and creative collaborator, sculptor Alice Meredith Williams ARBS.

 

In the run-up to the First World War, artists Morris and Alice Meredith Williams were leading a quiet life in Edinburgh. He was illustrating books and teaching drawing at Fettes College. She was making small, often whimsical, sculptures in clay and bronze, and designing stained glass windows.

 

The outbreak of war changed everything. Morris spent four years in the army, three of them in France – first in the infantry, then the artillery and finally, in a camouflage unit. When not on duty, he filled pocket-sized sketchbooks with detailed pencil drawings of his fellow soldiers and their surroundings. Alice’s work slowed down until, in 1917, she was asked by the Women’s Work Sub Committee of the Imperial War Museum to model a collection of 3D plaster panoramas of the roles played by women during the war. The Scottish architect Sir Robert Lorimer was impressed by them and invited her to collaborate on a war memorial for a town in South Africa. It was Alice’s first large-scale work and led to commissions for the Paisley War Memorial and for the Scottish National War Memorial at Edinburgh Castle. Here, the marriage of Morris’s painstaking draughtsmanship and Alice’s brilliance as a sculptor produced the remarkable the frieze around at the centre of the memorial.

 

This talk will be delivered by Phyllida Shaw.

Phyllida Shaw studied history and French at Lancaster University and has worked for 35 years as a researcher, writer and facilitator in the arts and voluntary sector. She inherited the First World War sketchbooks and letters of Morris Meredith Williams from her great aunt (Williams’ second wife). She is the author of An Artist’s War. The art and letters of Morris and Alice Meredith Williams (The History Press, 2017) and Undaunted Spirit. The art and craft of Gertrude Alice Meredith Williams (Independent Publishing Network, 2018). She has given talks on these two extraordinary artists for the National Archives, the Royal Society of Sculptors, the National Galleries of Scotland, the Public Statues and Sculpture Association, the Western Front Association and literature festivals in Henley, Lichfield and Taunton.

This event will be held via Zoom and a joining link will be sent on the day.

The Fire Brigade at HM Factory Gretna.

Online Talks 2021

By Archive

Before the pandemic hit, the Devil’s Porridge Museum used to have a lively and varied programme of events and talks.  We’re now really pleased to be offering these online. We aim to have a talk once a month on a subject which links to local history or the themes of the Museum. All events are free.

Tickets now available for the following.

 

 

 

 

 

Nearly a decade! Fires and Firefighting at HM Factory Gretna

Monday 22nd November 2021

Book online on Eventbrite here:

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/nearly-a-decade-fires-and-firefighting-at-hm-factory-gretna-tickets-153631089725

Our presentation begins in October 1915 with the builders discussing fire insurance with HM Government and then we travel through to September 1925 with a large fire at Gretna just a few days after the brigade had been disbanded. Our journey will include looking at the men and women who fought fires, took part in competitions and ensured the safety of H M Factory, Gretna. We’ll see the vehicles, stations and uniforms used. Likewise details and photographs will show the diversity of incidents including travelling miles to assist local communities in areas where proper fire fighting apparatus and crews did not exist or were rudimentary. 

Gretna had different levels of fire teams ranging from the professional brigade through to the assistance offered by police officers, both male and female, military guards and officer workers. Within the factory area, all workers received basic training whilst others more in depth instruction. Some of these workers showed exceptional bravery and quite correctly were presented with awards and we’ll look at these. 

Unfortunately any explosive factory was a place of danger and accidents fatal and causing injury were common placeHowever that the workforce and residents in the purpose built townships and other accommodation also suffered from house fires and accidents including those caused on the railway and road. Ambulances based at fire stations attended to the injured, taking casualties to hospitals in Dumfries and Carlisle if the medical facilities within the factory could not cope. 

Lasting about 50 minutes, Nigel Crompton, MA’s presentation includes photographs, copies of maps and other documents relating to the fire brigade and fire fighting at HM Factory, Gretna. 

This event will be held via Zoom and a joining link will be sent on the day.

The royal visit to H.M. Factory Gretna during World War One with lots of happy munition workers.

The Miracle Workers Project Update: Mini-Conference

By Archive
A chance to hear about the excellent historical research done so far on The Miracle Workers Project in a free online event.

 

 

In March 2021, The Devil’s Porridge Museum launched it’s Miracle Workers Project, which aimed to research the 30,000 people who worked at H. M. Factory Gretna during World War One. Thanks to a generous grant from the D&G Costal Communities Fund, volunteers at the museum have been systematically researching and compiling information on those who worked at Gretna.

This free online event will share what the volunteers have uncovered so far, from women’s football teams at the factory to police to explosives and chemists. We will also be hearing from Dr Chris Brader, who wrote his thesis on the women workers at Gretna, who will be speaking about his research.

10AM – 11AM – short, informal talks by our volunteers, sharing their research.

11AM-11:45AM – talk by Dr Chris Brader, with time for questions.

Booking your free place on eventbrite here: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/the-miracle-workers-project-update-mini-conference-tickets-162272199517

This event will be held via Zoom and a joining link will be sent on the day.

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