PARWICH.ORG

Parwich and District History Society is keen to undertake a project about Parwich in the period of the First World War. We are hoping that this will be a community project with as many people involved as possible. We are also hoping to link in with other groups in the village which are interested in a particular aspect. Maybe other groups might want to pick up an idea to work on or maybe individuals would like to be involved in some of the ideas we have thought about.

• The two main areas of work are firstly to speak to elderly people in the village to find out what stories they may have heard about Parwich during the war years. Not just about those who went to war but also about those left behind. Maybe they have some items of memorabilia from the period and possibly photographs?
• The second area of work is to read the local papers from the period and pick up all references to Parwich. This can be done at Ashbourne Library where the Ashbourne News is on microfilm. This isn’t particularly easy to read and the History Society is contemplating trips to Swadlincote where original newspapers can be accessed. This is going to be labour intensive so as many volunteers as readers would be welcome and we could car share.

We have come up with a list of possible areas for inclusion in the project. This is by no means prescriptive nor exhaustive. All ideas are welcome! These are our thoughts:

• The Rathbone Convalescent Home – what role did it play?
• Farms –how many horses went, what were the reserved occupations on the farms?
• Were there other reserved occupations?
• School- records – can they shed light on life for the children in this period?
• Were people knitting and organising local collections for the war effort?
• What celebrations were there at the end?
• Erection of war memorial – who isn’t on it? What % is this is the total?
• What was the impact of deaths on the community, especially if all at the same time (most seem to have been in same regiment)?
• Who came back?
• Those that came back – how did they adapt?
• Food – did diets change, were there restrictions?
• Fashion – any implications?
• Who did the jobs of those who went?
• Did they sign up or were they conscripted?

If you have any thoughts about the project, would like to be involved or your group/society are planning to commemorate WW1, please either make a comment or contact Fiona on 191, Peter T on 287 or Ian P on 362.