04507 WW1 Events Programme (PDF)

MONM UTH WW1

CENTENARY COMMEMORATIONS
Friday 2nd November to Sunday 11th November 2018
A programme of events and activities, remembering our
local contribution to WW1 and those who served.

@Monmouth_1

Monmouth Remembers World War 1

WW1 MONMOUTH: A TOWN AT WAR

INTRODUCTION
Celebrations to mark the centenary of the end of ‘the war to end all wars’ are taking place throughout the country
this year – but few towns across the United Kingdom can compete with the range of events that have been organised in
Monmouth. The citizens of this very special town should be particularly proud of themselves for marking, with such respect,
the contribution made by all those who gave so much to ensure victory in 1918.
It is no surprise that Monmouth should make such a special effort to remember its military forebears: the town has a long
history of association with the Armed Forces. Today, the Headquarters of the Royal Monmouthshire Royal Engineers are in the
Castle; the town retains strong links with HMS Monmouth; and there is even a unit of the RAF in the Boys’ School CCF.
We all have personal links with someone who served in the Great War, and for many people the events of this week will
be a poignant reminder of the part played by their parents, grandparents and great-grandparents. I think that the practice
of wearing one’s antecedents’ medals on Armistice Day is a wonderful way of showing respect and admiration for them; so
I would encourage you to dig out those Pip, Squeak and Wilfred sets, stick them on your right breast, and wear them with
pride when you attend the parade and service at the eleventh hour on the eleventh day of the eleventh month, 2018.
Brigadier Robert Aitken CBE, HM Lord Lieutenant of Gwent
Whilst every effort has been made to ensure all activity and event details are correct, programme details are
subject to change. Please contact individual programme venues to confirm details or go to:

@Monmouth_1

Funded by the Armed Forces
Covenant Fund Trust
and donations from
your local community.

Monmouth Remembers World War 1

Special thanks to
DS Triwall
for supplying the
cardboard tanks.

EVENTS HAPPENING THROUGHOUT REMEMBRANCE WEEK
November 5th to November 11th

WW1 Monmouth: A Town at War
An exhibition exploring the
impact of the Great War on the
town and its people, created by
community volunteers and staff
from Monmouth Museum.
The exhibition is accompanied
by handling objects and costume.
Venue:

Monmouth 5000 Poppy Display
See the beautiful display of knitted and crocheted poppies
on the front of Shire Hall, the result of a community
project which saw the people of Monmouth create over 5000
poppies to decorate the front of this iconic building.
Venue:
Time:
Cost:
Booking:

Shire Hall
Agincourt Square, Monmouth NP25 3DY
9.00am - 5.00pm
Free
No booking required

Time:
Cost:
Booking:

Monmouth Museum
Priory Street, Monmouth, NP25 3XA
11.00am - 4.00pm daily
(closed Wednesday)
Free
No booking required

Primary Schools Art and
Poetry Competition
Throughout the week primary school pupils from Kymin
View Primary School, Osbaston Church in Wales Primary
School and Overmonnow Primary School will be writing
poems that explore the legacy of WW1 and creating designs
for a school ‘tank’ and a commemorative mug.
They will also be visiting local museums to find out more
about the men, women and children who took part in the
conflict and helped on the Home Front.

Key to Events

Indoor Events

Outdoor Events

Private Event

EVENTS LISTING

WW1 at the Castle & Regimental Museum

Friday November 2nd

Discover the story of the Royal Monmouthshire Royal Engineers
including a small and informative WW1 exhibition dedicated
to the eight companies of the RMRE who went to the Front.

Monmouth Male Voice Choir and
Monmouth Town Band in Concert
Monmouth Branch of the Royal British Legion, Monmouth
Male Voice Choir and Monmouth Town Band present a
festival of
Remembrance
concert to
commemorate
the end of
World War One.
Venue:
Time:
Cost:
Booking:

Blake Theatre
Almshouse St, Monmouth NP25 3XP
7.00pm
£12.00 Concessions £11.00
Contact the Blake Theatre
on 01600 719401 or
email theblaketheatre.org

All proceeds to the RBL Poppy Appeal and
Monmouth Male Voice Choir.

Saturday 3rd November

Monmouth WW1 Memorial Walk
A guided walk with Monmouth Walkers are Welcome of
approximately 2 hours taking you to key WW1 locations in
the town including Vauxhall Fields and Monmouth Cemetery.
Start point:
Time:
Cost:
Booking:

Rockfield Road Car Park
10.00am
Free
Contact Shire Hall on 01600 775257

Please wear suitable outdoor clothing/walking boots.

Venue:
Time:
Cost:
Booking:

Great Castle House
Castle Hill, Monmouth NP25 3BT
2.00pm - 5.00pm
Free
No booking required

Sunday 4th November

Official opening of the
Monmouth Poppy Trail
In 2014 Monmouth Walkers are Welcome retraced the
route taken by soldiers from the RMRE as they departed
Monmouth for the Front Line in August 1914. Following
funding from the Armed Forces Covenant Fund this trail has
been preserved and memorialised through interpretation
panels at Castle House, a tableaux of Silent Soldiers placed
in the memorial Garden and a series of ceramic poppy plaques
that will ‘stand proud’ on buildings along Monnow Street.
Venue:
Time:
Cost:
Booking:

Castle House
10.00am
Free
No booking required

WW1 at the Castle & Regimental Museum
See above for details.
Venue:
Time:
Cost:
Booking:

Great Castle House
10.00am - 12.00 and 2.00pm - 5.00pm
Free
No booking required

WW1 Walk - Castle House to Troy Station
Following the
official opening of
the Poppy Trail join
Monmouth Walkers
are Welcome as
they guide you on
this moving walk.
You will follow the
same route taken
by soldiers of the Royal Monmouthshire Royal Engineers
in August 1914 as they marched from Castle House to Troy
Station en route to the front.
Venue:
Time:
Cost:
Booking:

Start at Castle House
10.15am
Free
Contact Shire Hall on 01600 775257

The walk is approximately 3 miles.
Please wear suitable outdoor clothing and footwear.

Monday 5th November

Monmouth Rotary Club Bonfire Night
including WW1 Commemoration
Rotary Monmouth will be running its annual Bonfire and
Fireworks display on Monday 5th November, ending with a
spectacular poppy display.
Venue:
Time:

Cost:
Booking:

Town Field beside the Rowing Club
Gates open 6.00pm
Bonfire lighting by Mayor Terry
Christopher 6.30pm
Fireworks display starts at 7.00pm
£6.00 adults, £3.00 children,
£15.00 family (2 adults + 2 children)
No booking required

Tuesday 6th November

WW1 Film Double Bill
Carrying on as Normal, written and directed by
David Evans and A Slice of Life, written and
directed by Sam Densham

Carrying on as Normal
This short play, with music, borrows heavily from the
research of Monmouth historian Keith Kissack and
Monmouth Museum’s Betty Williams, to portray a little of
how life carried on
for local families
while their menfolk
were away fighting
for their country.

A Slice of Life
A witty, intelligent
and informative
piece about an
amazing woman
called Dorothy Peel
(OBE) who spent her
early years growing
up in Monmouth. A
strong independent
woman, at a time
when wives were still
the property of their husbands, Dorothy kept her career as
a writer, owned a hat shop and became Minister for Food
during WW1.
Venue:
Time:
Cost:
Booking:

The Savoy Theatre
Church Street, Monmouth NP25 3BU
7.30pm
£10.00, £6.00 under 16s
Contact the Savoy Theatre
on 01660 772476 or
www.monmouth-savoy.co.uk

Wednesday 7th November

Friday 9th November

Meet Tommy Atkins

Primary School Poetry and
Commemorative Mug Competition

Meet Tommy Atkins takes the
audience from the beginning
of the Great War to the end
of the Second. We learn of his
experiences in the trenches
– fighting on the Somme, at
Passchendaele and Loos; and
also of the boredom, the loss
and indeed the comradeship
Private Tommy Atkins was
there. This is his story.
Venue:
Time:
Cost:
Booking:

The Blake Theatre
7.00pm
£5.00
Contact the Blake Theatre
on 01600 719401 or
email theblaketheatre.org

The winners of the poetry and commemorative mug
competitions will be revealed – look out for the
announcements on Facebook and Twitter.
@Monmouth_1

Saturday 10th November

WW1 at Bridges Community Centre
Throughout the day Bridges will be the venue for a series
of lectures by the well known local historian David
Harrison. Two classic silent films The Life of David Lloyd
George and the Battles of Coronel and Falkland Islands
1914 will also be screened.
Venue:

Thursday 8th November

Mud and Glory:
The Art of World War One
From fervent patriotism to the deepest despair, the artists
of the Great War captured every aspect of the conflict - the
terror, the endless waiting, the proud triumphs.
Lecturer Eleanor Bird explores this extraordinary British
art, when new ideas about painting forged with the
Government’s wish to record the ‘War to End All Wars’.
Venue:
Time:
Cost:
Booking:

Shire Hall
Agincourt Square, Monmouth NP25 3DY
7.00pm
£5.00
Contact Shire Hall on 01600 775257

MonmouthPoppies2018

Time:
Cost:
Booking:

Bridges Community Centre
Drybridge Park, Monmouth NP25 5AS
10.00 - 4.00pm
Free
No booking required

Tank Display

We Will Remember Them

Visit the Shire Hall and see the display of ‘tanks’ decorated
by pupils from Kymin View Primary School, Osbaston Church
in Wales Primary School and Overmonnow Primary School;
a project inspired by the visit to Monmouth in July 1918
of ‘Julian’ the Tank as part of the national War Savings
campaign.

A tribute to the men and women of Monmouth who gave
their all in WW1. This highly poignant projected display
reveals some of the faces behind the names on the town’s
war memorials, as well as those who fought and returned.

Venue:
Time:
Cost:
Booking:

Shire Hall
1.00pm onwards
Free
No booking required

Venue:
Time:
Cost:
Booking:

Shire Hall
6.00pm - 8.00pm
Free
No booking required

WW1 Costumed walk
Young people from Monmouth step back in time to take on
the characters of a variety of Monmouth people. On this
one hour walk you will hear the stories of soldiers and
their families, Monnow Street shopkeepers and even a
suspected spy!
Venue:
Time:
Cost:
Booking:

The walk begins and ends at
Bridges Community Centre
10.00am
Free
Contact Monmouth Museum
on 01600 710630

WW1 at the Castle & Regimental Museum
See page 3 for details.
Venue:
Time:
Cost:
Booking:

Great Castle House
2.00pm - 5.00pm
Free
No booking required

Sunday 11th November

Armistice Announcement
100 years ago the then mayor of Monmouth William
Sambrook announced to the town the official end of WW1.
Soldiers from the RMRE sang, the union flag was unfurled,
a bugler played and the mayor stood on top of a car in
Agincourt Square to declare an end to the hostilities.
100 years on we re-create aspects of this event to mark the
official start of Remembrance Day.
Venue:
Time:
Cost:
Booking:

Shire Hall
10.30am
Free
No booking required

Remembrance Service
Monmouth Town War Memorial

Re-dedication of Monmouth
Methodist Church War Memorial

The Remembrance parade will leave
Monnow Bridge at 10.30am and
proceed to The Shire Hall, where
joined by The Town Mayor, it will
proceed to St James Square. All are invited to line the
route. The service of Remembrance and two minute silence
at the War memorial will be followed by a further service at
The Priory Church of St Mary The Virgin.

Join the Sunday Service at
Monmouth Methodist Church
and be part of the re-dedication
of the church’s war memorial.

Time:
Cost:
Booking:

11.00am
Free
No booking required

WW1 Costumed Walk
Young people from Monmouth step back in time to take
on the characters of a variety of Monmouth people. On
this one hour walk you will hear the stories of a Lusitania
survivor, nurses and soldiers, an army doctor and the
Monmouth postman killed during the Christmas Day truce.
Venue:
Time:
Cost:
Booking:

The walk begins at Shire Hall,
Agincourt Square
2.00pm
Free
Contact Monmouth Museum
on 01600 710630

WW1 at the Castle & Regimental Museum
See page 3 for details.
Venue:
Time:
Cost:
Booking:

Great Castle House
2.00pm - 5.00pm
Free
No booking required

Venue:
Time:
Cost:
Booking:

Monmouth Methodist Church
Monk Street
10.00am
Free
No booking required

We Will Remember Them
See page 7 for details.
Venue:
Time:
Cost:
Booking:

Shire Hall
6.00pm - 8.00pm
Free
No booking required

Lighting of the Commemorative Beacon
After darkness has fallen, Beacons of Light will be lit
throughout the United Kingdom in remembrance of the end
of the war and the millions who were killed or came home
dreadfully wounded. This will also commemorate the huge
army of men and women on the home front who underpinned
the war effort - keeping the wheels of industry turning and
bringing home the harvests. The beacons will symbolise the
light of hope that emerged from the darkness of war.
The Town Mayor will light one of over 1000 Beacons of Light
across the UK. Please look for the Beacon from Monmouth,
as access to The Kymin will be closed. Access on foot only
to The Kymin, no parking will be available.
Time:

7.00pm