A little bit of the Great War in Southport from July 28

It is easy to forget that amongst the great suffering on all the battle fronts of the Great War there were few families back at home who were not also touched by the awful events of those four years.

Now there are the big exhibitions on the war around the country but I want to focus on three very local ones.

They are all from the collection of David Harrop* who has been assisting me collecting material for the book on Manchester and the Great War.

The first is the permanent display in the Remembrance Hall in Southern Cemetery, and the second opens at the Atkinson, Lord Street, and Southport on July 28th with a third in Oldham in August. **

Much of the material will be about Southport and the surrounding area and there may well be people who come across a grandparent or great grandparent in the postcards, pictures and medals on display.

And just yesterday David shared some pictures of the finished exhibition which shows just how promising the event will be.

This as he said is "a major exhibition from a private collection and is a fitting reminder of the people who went through the Great War."

It is also a  tribute to the unstinting work David has done, first in collecting the material and secondly in seeking out venues to display it across the North West.

All of which just leaves me to hope as many people as possible can visit the Southport exhibition and failing that the smaller but equally impressive show at Oldham next month.











*David Harrop, http://chorltonhistory.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/David%20Harrop

**The Atkinson, Lord Street, Southport from July 28 and Oldham Archives, Union Street, Oldham, from August 4

Picture; from the collection of David Harrop