Beyond The War Memorials
Sefton War Memorials project
To mark the centenary of the end of World War One the team at Sefton Libraries applied for a Heritage Lottery grant, to fund the Beyond the War Memorials project.
We wanted to honour the men and women listed on the boroughs Civic War Memorials, and find the stories behind each name. We also wanted to contact those currently living at the addresses, from which the Service men and women left to ‘go to war’. The library team have overseen the whole project and are delighted with the results.
Sefton Library Service
Contributions
Angie Thompson – Illustrator
As an illustrator my brief for the ‘Beyond the War Memorials’ project was to generate artwork with groups of local school children, and design ‘The Last Post’ presentation pack. The pack was sent to the last known addresses of the Service men and women listed on Sefton’s civic war memorials, sharing their stories with the current occupiers at those addresses.
During four busy and very productive drawing workshops the children produced upwards of 800 amazing drawings inspired by the symbolic details on the regions war memorials, which also gave them a broader understanding of memorial and remembrance.
One drawing or sketch from every single child who took part is included in the final design of ‘The Last Post’ presentation pack, either on the postcard, folder or letters.
It’s been a real privilege to play a part in this thought provoking project, the idea of learning about a person who lived in my house, who left for war 100 years ago and didn’t return, had a profound impact on myself and captured the imagination of the children I worked with to produce the artwork.
Kathryn Rogerson – Researcher and Volunteer Co-ordinator
Volunteer Research Assistants
Peter Harvey – Journalist, PR, Marketing and Media
Andy Mulvenna and Sue Green of 67-70 Design. Web. Advertising. – Web Design and Build
From the moment the brief arrived for the ‘Beyond the War Memorials’ project we were intrigued. Upon visiting Bootle’s War Memorial first to get a feel for the task ahead it soon became clear that this project was going to take us through lots of different emotions.
We created a logo to mark the centenary of the end of The Great War, photographed all 11 memorials and designed and built a website to accommodate the names and details of around 4000 fallen Service men and women.
It has been a great privilege to be part of such a worthwhile project and it will leave a lasting memory on us, working with Sefton Libraries and the team they handpicked to work on the project has been a wonderful experience.
Credits
With thanks to the following people, organisations and source materials:
Merseyside Roll of Honour
Commonwealth War Graves Commission
‘Southport’s Splendid Hearts’ by Victoria Bannister
Imperial War Museum
Volunteer Research Assistants
Your contributions
If you would like to get in touch with us about the Sefton War Memorials project you can contact us via our Contact page.
Please note, the website is ongoing work in progress which relies on community engagement, we welcome clarifications or corrections.
Omissions
If a family member is missing from one of the Sefton War Memorials please follow this link and fill in your details to request that they be included on a memorial.
