Following a visit to the cenotaph to record the names of former Water Street students remembered on the town’s war memorial, pupils spent time at Skipton Library researching the life of one of those students, Harry Tindall, who they were excited to learn had Royal connections in the form of England World Cup Rugby hero and husband to Zara Philips, Mike Tindall, who is Harry’s first cousin twice removed.

The pupils had an opportunity to use the library’s wide range of local history resources, including copies of the Craven Herald and Wensleydale Pioneer on microfilm. The pupils also had rare access to the schools’ log books from the period, which revealed interesting information about what life was like at school in the early twentieth century.

Jenny Macnab, Deputy Head and Year 6 Class teacher, said she was thrilled with how much the children enjoyed being involved in the project: “It was such an amazing opportunity for them to be able to undertake their own research on Harry Tindall. We are hoping that the children will now be able to use the skills they have learnt to start to do further independent research into members of their family who fought in WW1.”

[quote=Rob Freeman, Project Officer]It is really important that we use the opportunity of the First World War Centenary to empower young people to learn for themselves[/quote]

The project was the first in a series of sessions organised by the Heritage Lottery Funded-Craven and the First World War Project, and will be rolled out to schools across the district this year as part of the centenary commemorations in Craven, which will run throughout the next three years.

Project Officer for the Craven and the First World War Project, Rob Freeman, said: “It is really important that we use the opportunity of the First World War Centenary to empower young people to learn for themselves about the huge sacrifices that were made by men and women from their area and to help them understand  the connection between local, national and international history.”

If you would like to be involved in the project, working as a volunteer to help build a greater understanding of what life was like in Craven during the war, or have your own idea for a centenary-related project that you would like support with, please contact Rob on 01756 706 225 or rfreeman@cravendc.gov.uk.