The Project Team are very pleased to announce that work has commenced around the War Memorial site on Dovedale Road. Initial works have seen the removal of quite an amount of soil and rubble to form the foundations of a pathway up from the pavement on Dovedale Road to the new kissing gate and also onto the memorial itself.

This will allow anyone of any ability to walk up to the memorial as well as improving access across the site on the Staffordshire Way.

Further works will see a paved area constructed around the site and also a new bench sited. In time an interpretation panel will be erected as well.

This first  phase of the work will it is hoped be completed for this years Remembrance Day at the memorial.

Jim Beech as he was known was featured earlier this year HERE on the site.

As a result a comment was made recently on the site from the Solihull Life website. This site is run by the Solihull Library and Jim is featured there through his links with Brandon Hall.

The entry regarding Jim on the Solihull Life site can be fund HERE.

It is as they say a small world.

Up until the present time the only real tangible evidence of the project has been this website and the results of our research.

However that all changed on Thursday 23rd July when the existing stile at the Memorial on Dovedale Road was replaced by a new wooden kissing gate. The gate was supplied free of charged by Staffordshire County Council.

The project are grateful to Helen Anderson (Support Staffordshire ) and Richard Whiting Projects Officer for the Churnet Valley Living Landscape Partnership. Helen and Richard assisted in arranging and supplying  the volunteer labour to install the gate.

We are also very grateful to land owners David and Josie Clewes who have allowed the gate and the fence that will follow soon to be sited a metre or so onto their land to enable the landscaping works to be completed.

We hope that the work around the memorial will start soon and be completed for the years Remembrance Day at the site on 11th November.
Here are a couple of photos taken as the work was just starting. To keep up to date with the project make sure to subscribe via your email address on any page with the subscribe box on it.

99 years ago today the Battle of the Somme commenced and led to the worst casualties ever suffered by the British Army in a single day. Between 56,000 and 66,000 men were killed, wounded or missing at the days end.

Of that number 20,000 were killed.

To give some context in 2001 the population of Cheadle was given as a little over 12,000 people.

Four of our men were killed on the Somme, Charles Allen (12/8/16), Isaac Hammond (31/8/16), George Price Bevans (8/9/16) and Thomas Clowes (16/10/16). Research to date reveals that none  of these men were involved in that first days attack.

All bar Thomas Clowes have no known grave and are commemorated on the Thiepval  Memorial on the Somme along with the names of over 72,000 men from Britain and South Africa who also have no known grave.

We will feature these men in the coming weeks.

One of the many positives of the project is that names become more than just letters on a memorial or tablet. They become people who lived in houses in the parish many of which are still standing and some are still the homes of their descendants.

They were members of the Reading Room (now Village Hall) or went to St Werburgh’s school or were married in the church.

We have been privileged to have met some  of the descendants of these men and we hope that the project is a fitting tribute to them a century or so later.

One such descendant is Janet Walton and her husband Phillip – Edward was Janet’s great uncle and we have been very lucky to be able to have access to the family history they have uncovered which includes letters written by Edward whilst serving with the army. They have been transcribed for us and are reproduced below.

They provide a contemporary account of a soldiers life in the army and the last letter was written 3 weeks before his death and refers to Lt Sloan who died in an action that was referred to in our account of Edward elsewhere on this site.

We have another set of letters written by Earnest Upton and our grateful to a volunteer who will be transcribing them in the coming weeks.

To read our post on Edward click here

Post Card written 9th November 1916

Dear Fred                                                                Thursday

Just a few lines to say that I am going on alright and have very near over-got the cold that I had. I was pleased to see you all looking so well at Kingsley and I think father looks quite well again now. More like himself than he did when I was over before. I got back to Braintree a lot sooner than I thought I should, for the trains run very well to this place. I got to London at 4 O’clock and had just nice time to cross and catch the 5 o’clock to Witham. We got to Witham at 6 o’clock and arrived at Braintree at 25 minutes past six.

Trusting you are all feeling well.

With love to you all, Ted.

Witham YMCA Hut Postcard date unknown but around 9th November 1917

Dear Fred,                                                                    Friday.

I am at Witham for about a week. This is a photo of the YMCA Hut there. I am going on well.

With love to you all,

Ted.

Hoping to see you shortly.

Letter dated 9th December 1916   

Pte. E.E.Bradshaw 4183

2/6^th Scottish Rifles,

20^th Infantry Base Depot,

S17 Army Post Office,

B E F,

France.

Dear Annie,                                                                  Dec. 9^th 1916.

                        Just a note to say that I am going on well out here.

For we are not doing any more work than we did in England.

I had a very good voyage across the sea and I quite enjoyed it; of course there were a few seasick.

We are having a lot better food than we had in England – always roast meat for dinner, and bacon for breakfast, and jam and bread for tea, but not quite enough to make you feel full.

It is washing day today and we have to wash all our own clothes, and they lay them in a place on purpose for drying clothes.

I think I shall wear the socks until they are worn out for I don’t think I shall mend socks, they can send me some socks from home. I don’t want good socks, and socks will do if they are very near worn out.

I have not been up to the fighting line yet, and may be a while before we go up.

I have plenty of friends out with me, a lot of Decent fellows.

We can get any sort of food at such places as the YMCA, it is very dear.

I don’t think the war will last much longer with Asquith giving up his job, and the sooner it is over the better, but we must trust in God and try to do all the good we can and leave the rest to Him.

The men out here are more religious than the people in England, I think.

The money out here is a bit funny to get into for the English shilling is worth ½ in France, and for 10 pence you get a piece of paper.

I think this is all this time.

Trusting you are all keeping well, as it leaves me very well.

With Love To You All,

From your brother, Ted.

Silk Post Card Dated Tuesday 16th January 1917    

Jan 16^th.

Dear Annie,

I received Gladys letter alright, but she had not very much news to tell me. Pleased to hear that she liked her silk card and hope you will like yours. We have not had much snow, only one day, and the sun took it away as it came down. Tell the people in Kingsley to send me a shirt and some Harrison Pomade as soon as they can. Things are much the same here.

Trusting you are all keeping well, as I am alright.

With love to you all, Ted

Letter dated Monday 22nd January 1917

France.

Jan. 22nd

I enjoyed the mince pie, if they were crusted.

Dear Annie,

Just a line to say I received your letter dated Jan 12^th. I had been thinking, the same day that I received it, about you, and that I should receive a letter any time.

You would see by the letter I sent to George I had a quiet Christmas, but still I thought of being at your house last year and about Carol singing. I only heard one Christmas Carol sung this time, but we must trust in God and hope for a good one next time.

I often think when I hear the Church bells ringing here that I should like to hear them at Kingsley.

I have a lot of good friends in this battalion.

We can buy very near anything to eat, where we are at now, and I have plenty of money, so am taking no harm.

We are billeted in empty houses – very good billets they are.

I sent Annie a silk card last week – did she receive it alright? I don’t think the war will last much longer, for I think Germany is about finished, and will not fight this summer. If they did, I think they will be beaten. The men are tired of war, but all confident of beating the Germans.

It is a shame that I cannot receive more parcels from home, but think I shall get them alright. I have received 2 up to now – I received one today, dated Jan 11^th.

Trusting you are all keeping well as it leaves me alright, and I shall be home in …? Sea soon.

With Fondest Love To You All,

Ted.

Letter dated Friday 16th March 1917 

France.

March 16^th 1917.

Dear Fred,

Many thanks for the John Bull, which I received each week for it is always very welcome by all the men, and they very near all read it.

I have received a parcel from the shop containing ham , bacon, a ??? with paper, cocoa, and one from Derby containing cake, so I have plenty to eat.

I also received your mother’s letter last week and was pleased to hear you are all going on well at home.

I am enclosing a silk card in this envelope, which I hope you will like.

We all hope the war will finish soon and we can all return home and live in peace again.

I know you must be a very useful lad to your Grand Father for he must be in the need of somebody to help him now he has not Billy.

I received a letter from the shop yesterday, but will try and write them tomorrow if possible.

I have plenty of Friends here and I could not be with a better lot of men than they all are.

I cannot write anymore as it is Lights-out. (In haste).

Trusting you are all in the Best of Health as it leaves AT.

With fondest love,

Ted.

Letter dated 1st May 1917

France.

May 1st 1917.

Dear Annie,

Just a line to say I am going on alright. I have not received any letters or parcels for about three weeks.

I have been down to the base with Lieut. Sloan, and that has taken almost a fortnight of the time.

My address is:

Pte. E.E.Bradshaw 41001,

9 Platoon, C Company

1^st Cameronian Scottish Rifles,

BEF Army Post Office,

France.

You will see that it is 9 Platoon that I am in now.

We are having grand weather out here at the present time. I am sorry to tell you that Lieut. Sloan has had to have his left leg taken off. I have heard that he has gone very near his own home in Glasgow.

I don’t think the war will go on much longer for we seem to be beating the Germans all round now and I think everybody is tired of being at war.

I received Gladys’ letter which was dated April 2^nd and that is the last I received from anybody.

With going down to the base, and receiving no parcel, it has taken more of my money than I have spent of a usual thing and I shall have to send home for money soon.

I think this is all the news this time. Hoping you will like the silk card.

Trusting these few lines find you all in the best of health as it leaves me quite well.

With fondest love to all,

Ted.

Note Lt Sloan in fact died in France on 28th April 1917 and Edward Bradshaw was to loose his life on 21st May 1917.

Part of the project that has been funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund is to leave a lasting legacy in the parish and that is to upgrade the area around the war memorial on Dovedale Road.

What is planned is to improve the footpath up onto the memorial and onto the Staffordshire Way, replace the current concrete seat and add an interpretation panel to allow people to better understand the heritage that comes from our research and the men who’s names are on the memorial.

In addition the current fence will be fully removed along with the stile and replace with a kissing gate.

We are grateful to Staffordshire County Council who have donated the gate and posts and to landowners David and Josie Clowes who will supply a matching fence to complement the kissing gate.

The gate and materials arrived last week and we are now making arrangements to get them installed to allow the other works to commence.

Big thank you also to Helen Anderson of Staffs Moorlands Voluntary Services who is hopefully arranging the voluntary labour to install the gate.

Here is an architects drawing  of the site and plans (click to enlarge)

On this date in 1917 the commission was founded by Fabian Ware (initially called the Imperial War Grave Commission) and currently cares for 1.7 million deceased military service personnel in 153 countries across the world.

It has built over 2500 cemeteries since its creation as well as numerous war memorials.

Rudyard Kipling who’s own son John died in the war  (and had no know grave although his grave was found in 1992 there is still doubt as to whether it is him who is buried there) said that the commissions work after the first war was

“The biggest single bit of work since any of the pharaohs — and they only worked in their own country” 

26 out of 27 men on our memorials are commemorated on the CWGC site – 3 buried in St Werburgh’s are in private graves not tended to by the commission but the church yard is classed as a CWGC cemetery (Rowland Beech, Leonard Edwards (not on any memorial) and George William Hood)

All the others are either in CWGC graves or commemorated on memorials where they have no known grave.

Pictured is the Thiepval Memorial in France where the names of over 70,000 commonwealth service men (mostly British) who have no known grave are commemorated. This site is maintained by the commission and is a reminder of the scale of loss during the first world war.

Four of our men are commemorated on the site – Charles Allen, Isaac Hammond, George Price Bevans and Arthur Keen. They will be featured later this year.

We are grateful for the work and record keeping of the commission. It has helped us on a number of our enquiries to confirm links from a mans name to the man we have traced prior to the war in the parish.

The initial project was mainly internet based as that enabled a lot  of information to be gathered fairly quickly from sources such as Ancestry, Commonwealth War Graves Commission and other web based sources including regimental associations.

Since the launch in September last year we have started to branch out to visits to actual sources  of records as more information is not on the internet than is.

We have visited the Stoke on Trent Archives in Hanley to research the Weekly Sentinel’s which have a wealth of information, the library in Cheadle which has copies of the Cheadle Herald which gives local context as well as memorial services to those who died and the Public Record Office in Stafford.

We have also as reported already, visited the Staffordshire Regiment museum at Whittington which we found to be very interesting learning that we were not far off the mark in our work.

At Stafford the 1918 Voters Register was searched to try and locate information relating to several sources including James Henry Wildgoose who continues to evade our attempts to ascertain more information. In addition the parish registers for St Wergburgh’s were searched for any relevant information.

The latest visit was to the Public Record’s Office in Matlock to research the Derbyshire Times  and the High Peak News again looking for James Henry Wildgoose sadly another blank was drawn there.

We have to visit the National Archives in London for officer records and will we suspect revisit some locations to conduct further work.

The project is always keen to have any help that is available. If you want to get involved do contact us via the contact page.

At the project launch event on Sunday 21st September 2014 the project team were approached by Hilary Corby a local resident.

She had seen that we were at that point unsure who Thomas Barker was.

Our research had narrowed it down to two possibilities. As it happened family of Thomas Barker came forward and identified which of the two was our man.

However Hilary had in her possession two medals, the British War  and  Victory Medal. Engraved on the rim of each medal was Private 50252  T H Barker North D Fusiliers. Hilary had not recollection how she had ended up with the medals and was curious as to who was this Thomas Barker.

We had a name, a regimental number and a regiment but who were the North D Fusiliers? After some research looking at various bits  of information our man was found.

He was Thomas Henry Barker who was in the Northumberland Fusiliers and died on 5th June 1917. The North D bit came from his medal card which was the reference point for the engravers and due to lack of space came about from shortening Northumberland.

Checking on the Commonwealth War Graves site his place of commemoration  was given as Arras and he was 25 years old. He has no known grave.

His parents were listed as Edward and Matilda Barker of 60 Oxford Street Sandford Hill Longton (since renamed Merton Street) Thomas is also commemorated on the Longton Cenotaph.

We then set about finding out who he was and how Hilary had his medals.

Later census returns showed the family in the Longton area however the 1881 census showed Edward and Matilda Barker as living at the Golden Lion, Far Lane  in Ipstones along with his parents and other family members. Edward’s birthplace was recorded as Tunstall and Matilda as Kingsley.

Fast forward to 1911 and the Census of that year when Thomas was aged 20 but still at home and single. He had two brothers and three sisters who also were still at home. The family lived at 4 Wedgewood Street with all the brothers working in the mines and the sisters within the pottery industry. The eldest sister was Ada Barker.

Further research shows that Edward and Matilda married in Ipstones in on Christmas Day 1880. Matilda’s maiden name was Forrester.

Matilda Forrester was born in around 1860 in Kingsley and in the 1871 Census she was living with her parents Thomas and Fanny. She was the eldest daughter of 4 girls with two brothers. Her 14 year old brother mined with his father. The other children were in school.

They were still in Kingsley as a family in 1881 but no street name was recorded on either census it was just recorded as the ‘village of Kingsley’

However by 1891 Fanny (Frances) was living with a 16 year old daughter Minnie in Leek and Thomas has passed away in the intervening years. Fanny was living along in 1901 except for a 16 year old boarder and died in 1907 in Leek aged 70 years.

When this information was passed onto Hilary she immediately knew what the link was. Ada Barker the sister of Thomas became Ada Swinson and known to Hilary as Aunt Ada.  Ada married Charles Swinson in 1911 and died aged 80 in 1966.  Ada’s son Reg never married and lived in The Green Kingsley until his death. After his passing Hilary who was related to him through marriage came into possession of several of Ada’s possessions and in a handbag were the two medals.

We know that in 1916 Thomas joined the army, as a miner he would be exempt from war service but may well have volunteered. He joined the Staffordshire Regiment first but as often happened was transferred to the Northumberland Fusiliers probably as a replacement

How did Thomas die? Well his battalion war diary has been researched and whilst previously names of the fallen had unusually been fairly comprehensively recorded by June 1917 all was shown were numbers of dead, wounded or missing.

On 5th June 1917 the battalion moved into the front line to attack the German trenches in the Arras area. The attack was made by three battalions of the Northumberlands and  started at 8pm that night and very soon heavy machine gun fire was being received, one platoon especially was decimated with just one officer and two men left. Heavy fighting continued overnight with some ground gained but the German’s counter attacking. Aerial reconnaissance was used and further ground gained.

Overnight of 7th and 8th June the battalion retired having been relived. German dead and wounded was put into several hundreds and around 200 prisoners were captured during the overall operation.

However the losses  suffered by the attacking British were heavy  – the Brigade lost 10 officers and 61 other ranks killed, with 14 officers and 463 other ranks wounded. Listed as missing were 1 officer and 188 other ranks. Among these casualties was Thomas Henry Barker who was listed as killed in action on 5th June. Quite how he died is unknown but the assumption is that he was killed during the early attacks possibly by machine gun fire.

Pictured is the Arras Memorial which has the names of over 20,000 men with no known grave.

On Thursday 19th February two of the project team members, Martyn Hordern and Ken Unwin traveled to the Staffordshire Regiment Museum at Whittington Barracks as part of the teams work into researching those on our memorial.

Around ten or so men served or started their service with the North or South Staffordshire Regiments (as they were then) with some doing their training before being transferred to other regiments often following heavy loses in France.

The day was informative and we were left reassured that our research is on track as we did not find anything we had missed so far.

One piece of interesting news was that Charles Allen and Isaac Hammond who both died on the Somme in 1916 were on the roll of the 1st Battalion of the North Staffordshire Regiment in 1914. Their service numbers suggest that both had been in the army before the war more than likely as Territorial’s.

The Territorials before the war were intended for service in the UK only so more than likely they volunteered for service overseas. Both men will be featured on the website later this year.