The Bradford WW1 Group meets on the 4th Wednesday morning of each month, from 10.00am to 12 noon.. We are a convivial group and you will be made very welcome indeed. Our programme of speakers is cancelled, due to Government Guidelines, but we are continuing with Members Talks via ZOOM which are wide and varied until further notice. Hopefully meetings may start again in the summer.
2022 Programme
26 Jan John Morrison: Yorkshire Trench near Ypres
23 Feb
23 Mar Terry Dean: A Nuclear Scientists War
27 Apr David Tattersfield: Two “Unknown” Majors of the Great War
25 May Nigel Holden: The collapse of the Easter Front and the savage peace of 1917-1923
22 Jun: Andria Hetherington: Deserters on the Home Front
27 Jul WW1 Trip Report 2022
24 Aug Members’ Morning: Bring and Tell
28 Sept The Vera Brittain Story
26 Oct Tim Lynch: Some Battles we Forgot to Remember
23 Nov: Andy Wade: A Patriotic Bible Class
21 Dec Festive ‘Bring and Tell’
Meetings
The fourth Wednesday morning of each month is the time for meetings of the World War 1 Group. We begin with coffee and biscuits at 10.00 and the convivial, welcoming atmosphere continues into the business agenda at 10.30 and lively discussion following a visiting speaker. The meeting ends at 12 noon.
Whilst members have particular enthusiasm for the role which Bradford and its citizens played, they also share an interest in all aspects of the Great War. This is reflected in the extremely wide range of topics covered by our programme of speakers. Our Heritage Lottery award provided us with a digital projector, speakers, screen and several laptops for research.
In December 2016 the WW1 Group received the papers, photograph albums and research notes of local researcher PD Lodge. This valuable archive can be made available for study. We also have a display cabinet of donated artefacts.
The Exhibition
The exhibition display panels researched and written by members of the WW1 group were produced by Inchpunch Design and form part of our Heritage Lottery Project.
They have been exhibited twice in the banqueting suite of Bradford City Hall at the invitation of the Lord Mayor’s office; at Bradford Central Library during the presentation about the war poet Humbert Wolfe; at events held in the meeting rooms of the Mechanics Institute and as a back-drop to presentations given by group members in other locations, including the Ilkley Literature Festival in October 2014, at the Bradford Club on 25 February 2015 and on Sam Meekosha Day at the Local Studies Library on 19 November 2015.
NEWS
Throughout July 2016 the WW1 Group staged an exhibition in the Mechanics’ Institute Library entitled ‘Threads of War’. Opened by the Lord Mayor on Saturday 2 July, the display comprised creative textiles in a range of styles reflecting aspects of the Great War. The exhibition was curated by Annie Parkinson of the East Riding Commemorative Quilts Group.
At the invitation of Bradford Cathedral the exhibition will be on display in the Cathedral for the whole of July 2016 and will form the backdrop for the Civic Commemoration of the Battle of the Somme to be held at the Cathedral on Saturday 9th July 2016 at 3pm.