Now I think it is highly appropriate that Central Ref should host the exhibition on Manchester and the Great War.
After all, it is the central library of the city and contains both the Archive and Local History libraries, added to which it is just a short walk from the Cenotaph.
The exhibition is the work of David Harrop who has a huge collection of memorabilia from both world wars along with a fascinating collection of material on the history of the Post Office.
David already has a permanent exhibition of his collection in the Remembrance Lodge at Southern Cemetery, but the Ref offers the opportunity for a lot more people to see learn about Manchester and the Great War.
Along with medals, letters and photographs there are picture postcards, crested china and official documents.
Together they tell the story of Manchester’s war from the serious to the silly, from the start of the conflict to the end and beyond into the first years of peace.
David is a modest man, and more than once he asked me what I thought of the exhibition and whether it did convey that period in our city’s history.
And I have to say it does, partly because of the range of material on display, but also because it focuses on individuals and their war.
So, one entire cabinet is devoted to George Davison, who enlisted in 1914, leaving his wife and son to serve first in Woolwich, then Ireland and finally on to the Western Front.
We have a photograph of the family, a collection of the letters he sent home and the official document reporting his death just months before the armistice.
The exhibition, which is entitled In Flanders Fields, runs until November.
Location; Central Reference Library, Manchester
Pictures; In Flanders Fields, Central Ref, 2018, from the collection of Andrew Simpson
The exhibition is the work of David Harrop who has a huge collection of memorabilia from both world wars along with a fascinating collection of material on the history of the Post Office.
David already has a permanent exhibition of his collection in the Remembrance Lodge at Southern Cemetery, but the Ref offers the opportunity for a lot more people to see learn about Manchester and the Great War.
Together they tell the story of Manchester’s war from the serious to the silly, from the start of the conflict to the end and beyond into the first years of peace.
David is a modest man, and more than once he asked me what I thought of the exhibition and whether it did convey that period in our city’s history.
And I have to say it does, partly because of the range of material on display, but also because it focuses on individuals and their war.
So, one entire cabinet is devoted to George Davison, who enlisted in 1914, leaving his wife and son to serve first in Woolwich, then Ireland and finally on to the Western Front.
The exhibition, which is entitled In Flanders Fields, runs until November.
Location; Central Reference Library, Manchester
Pictures; In Flanders Fields, Central Ref, 2018, from the collection of Andrew Simpson
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