Dearne Valley History Fair

Yesterday I had the pleasure of attending the Dearne Valley History Fair, which took place at the Coronation club in Thurnscoe. I went along with the Wombwell Heritage Group, where we had a table and display.

Exhibitors at the Dearne Valley History Fair.

The event was opened by the Mayor of Barnsley and his wife. Many local history groups and charities had stalls and displays, including the Thurnscoe History group and another raising funds for a memorial to the victims of  the Oaks colliery disaster. The exhibition was also visited by groups of school children from several local primarys. One exhibitor had brought in replica WW1 soldier's uniforms, for the children to dress up in, This proved a great hit; with one little boy declaring that he "Didn't want to take it off!". It was great to get see how enthusiastic the children were at getting  involved with a hands on history lesson. I had my own table of WW1 artifacts, including medals and personal belongs owned by my two great great uncles Raymond Hudson and Cooper Allen Robinson, both of whom died in WW1. The children loved learning that they were holding a wallet that was over a hundred years old and that was removed from the body of a dead soldier!

Private John William Fell

As always, these events are great for meeting descendants of our Wombwell soldiers and yesterday was no different. We got to to chat to a to a gentlemen who was related to Private John William Fell who was served with the Barnsley pals. He died on 12th May 1917 and is remembered on the Arras memorial in France.