"The Lamps Are Going Out All Over Europe."

One hundred and six years ago today, Germany declared war on France. This was the day that the Foreign Secretary, Sir Edward Grey, made an hour-long speech to Parliament and convinced government to support Belgium's neutrality. Later in the evening he was famously said to have remarked "The lamps are going out all over Europe. We shall not see them lit again in our time." By 11pm the following day, Britain was at war.

Image result for photograph of Lord Grey WW1

Between 2014 and 2018, the Museum ran a programme of commemorative activity for the centenary of the First World War. Initially, it was fairly low key as we had just moved from one building to another and were trying to establish our new displays and organise our collections, but by 2015 we had put together a programme of activity incorporating our collections, archives and photographs.


Over the next four years, we focussed on various aspects of the Regimental history engaging with schools, families, young people, the local community and veterans. We raised awareness of various aspects of the Border Regiment's history and developed our confidence in working with new audiences. We tried new ways of working including community outreach around the county, school assemblies, holiday workshops for families, working in partnership with a local arts organisation and a focussed WW1 talks programme. 


We have wonderful collections and the centenary was an opportunity to use them. It seems a long time ago since we undertook the commemorative activity but we look back at the great programmes with affection.  We learnt alot; we made some great connections with local organisations; we broadened awareness of our local military history. The learning from the centenary has raised our confidence to use our collections more creatively. Important in keeping our history alive.



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