What did we do in The Great War? ........... Stories from Chorlton-cum-Hardy tomorrow at the Post Box Cafe

We all have a pretty clear idea about the Great War drawn from pictures of the battlefields, women in munitions factories and the odd Zeppelin.

But I doubt that most of us know much about what actually happened in the place we live or for that matter the bits which are often air brushed out of the general story.

So while the books are full of the women who did their bit in the fields, the factories and hospitals, little attention is given to their rates of pay which in many cases were much lower than men doing similar work.

Equally the huge hike in the cost of living is rarely explored and the industrial action which became a feature of the war is at best ignored at worst explained away by greedy workers exploiting the war rather than an attempt to deal with rising price of food, fuel and rents and the adulteration of some of what they ate.

So tomorrow something of how Chorlton did its bit in the Great War will be on offer in the talk at the Post Box Cafe on Wilbraham Road.

We will look at the some of the men who went off to fight, those who never came back and how their families got on with the daily routines of life along with those forgotten Red Cross Hospitals which were staffed and partly supported by the people of Chorlton and the letters, post cards and souvenirs of those from the Great War.

The talk is part of Chorlton Book Festival and we will be at the Post Box Cafe with the added attraction of a glass of mulled wine and soup as part of the price.

2–3pm at The Post Box Café,
Wilbraham Road, M21 9PP

£4.75. Booking is recommended for this popular event. 


To book visit Chorlton Library or call 0161 227 3700.

Picture; Memorial in the grounds of the Methodist Church, 2014 from the collection of Andrew Simpson, The Cenotaph, 1924, courtesy of Sally Dervan