The first meeting for this project took place on Tuesday 13th January 2009 at the home of one of our young people in the Henthorn area.

On the agenda was the Soldiers Project.

This was discussed at some length and agreed for everyone to have a think about this for our next meeting.

Other items discussed that evening were Youth Shelter and how to improve this and the young people were to write to the Ribble Valley Borough Council for a meeting along with proposal for a mountain bike circuit at Edisford Bridge and a Multi Activity facility on Henthorn Park.

We set off from Clitheroe at 09.30am (Tuesday 6th April) with nineteen young members heading off to the Imperial War Museum in Manchester. I had made out a list of questions for them to investigate ranging from who led the German Forces/people during World War Two to the significance of Dunkirk in the early part of the War. We arrived just before 11am and the first place to visit for all of them were the toilets.

We met up with Helen a Tour Guide who gave us a brief talk and left us to watch the large projected film which was shown on all the walls around us. The film related mainly to children refugees in the War and children being involved in fighting across the World from 1945-present day.

On Tuesday 30th March at 4pm at the ITZone, Norman Kelly and I went to meet Peter for an update on the website and to discuss various other aspects of the project. We reviewed how the young people had been doing and certain areas still needed to be progressed concerning the first phase of the website. Norman showed us his first working draft of the first page - wonderful and this is just his rough working.

Thanks to Norman and Peter.

Clitheroe Radio Friday 26th March 2010. Top photo shows Roger and Arron being interviewed by Frank at Clitheroe Radio Station (Internet) and the picture below shows Arron getting himself ready to be questioned. Both Daniel and Arron did well and were certainly given some searching questions by Frank such as " Has this project given you a better perspective of the older generation?"

Arron: "I have always got on well with older people and have great respect for them." Nice one Arron!

Frank to Daniel: "Who was fighting in the Second World War"?

Daniel: "There was us against them Germans and them er Russians" !!!!

We will be talking a bit more about who was actually fighting to Daniel in more depth.

Roger was stating on Radio about his involvement and how he had been down to Low Moor to film which was the site of the Royal Engineers during the War.

All in all a good experience and thanks to Frank and Clitheroe Radio.

Ongoing work is currently taking place with Andrew at the North West Sound Archives based who is based in the Castle Museum. I met Andrew a few weeks ago and he then kindly sent me a list of 200 names or more with elements of their talk and recordings with him or his services. Looking through these documents I have picked out at least 50 people who I have asked Andrew to look out the tapes for me to listen to and from these we will then select a number for the young people to listen to and seek their views and obtain their reactions. They will then be recorded about this and speak on this project.

These stories range from those who worked making parachutes, talking about rationing to lights out, Several who were in the Home Guard, ex service men and women, someone from Dunsop Bridge talking about an under ground bunker, Jet engines, several ladies who worked in the fields, several mentions of German and Italian prisoners of War in the area, the bombing of Chatburn and much much more.

Roger and I have been to Dunsop Bridge and found the underground bunkers which were used by the Observation Corps -R.A.F. We have yet to go back and look inside.

This is again work in progress.

Ribble Valley Villages and Involvement- Second World War

I went round several villages recently taking photographs of War Memorials as regretably many of the Parish Councils have not answered our letters of help and assistance and the few that have just stated "Go and take photo's of our local War Memorials for the names you need"! One or two have supplied us with information as a starting point. I am and was very surprised at Ribchester and Longridge especially Ribchester which has no central War Memorial. Fortunately they do have memorials in each of the respective churches for those killed. I managed to speak to a few residents in Ribchester who felt that they should have a War Memorial.

I have been able to obtain the names of five service men who were killed in World War Two from the local churches in Ribchester so that is something along with the kind help of Roy Skilbeck. I went to a Ribchester Parish Council meeting recently to ask why no central War Memorial and they seemed content with the way matters are with those killed being apart and in seperate churches. Longridge does have a Memorial but no names! Research will need to be done by going to the local Churches in Longridge to find out the names of those who fell from that area.