News
Orford Museum WWII Project  - Their Past Your Future Programme On 22 and 23 September 2007 in Sudbourne Village Hall there was an exhibition of press cuttings and other material held by Orford Museum describing the evacuation of the villages of Sudbourne and Iken in 1942 and their transformation into a Battle Training Ground. The Orford/Sudbourne/Iken district is rich in WWII history and the local residents (approx 1300 population) and local primary school (approx 120 pupils) demonstrated a strong interest in preserving and commemorating the war years and there was an overwhelming request for further commemorative events/activities. In October 2007 a grant application under the “Their Past Your Future” programme was sent to MLA Partnerships and Big Lottery seeking funding for a range of WWII-related activities during 2008. This project would be led by Veronica Worrall on behalf of Orford Museum. The following three project objectives met the MLA programme aims To research and preserve local history by capturing the unique WWII memories of the older local population. To help the new generation respect the past and learn from those whose hardships built the present. To bring enjoyment and pleasure to the local people, using a commemorative date to enhance community relationships and understanding. The project plan, for which funding was sought, was divided into sub sections in order to maximise the involvement of volunteers and to spread the skills and knowledge which would be developed during the course of the project. Each sub section would be taken forward by a different community group, linking into the committee structure of the Orford Museum Trust. The likely skills to be honed included film-making, use of recording equipment, interviewing, display production, entertainment, organisation and presentation. This would not only build a reservoir of local expertise but would also encourage learning across communities and generations. Within the school this project is cross curriculum covering design/technology, history and citizenship. New equipment will be made available for ongoing school and community history projects. New archive material will be held by the museum with copies available for local communities use and as a school learning resource on an online gallery. The grant seeking £9760 was successful and the 1/2-year evaluation return to MLA is currently being completed. Our sponsors have visited the project and were delighted to see how many local people have been involved and the enthusiasm of all the volunteers and participants. MLA are seeking to use photographs of Orford Museum’s events to spread the word of the “ Their Past and Your Future” programme to encourage other museums to do something similar. Orford School pupils have been engaged in a number of activities in connection with the WWII organised by Orford Museum’s Education Officer, Maggie Livingstone. This included metal detecting in January, writing a play, visiting the Imperial War Museum in April and making displays for exhibitions, with still more to come in the autumn. The Commemorative Party on 17 May, organised by Parish Council Chairman, Elisabeth Cooper, and many volunteers, was an event which will stay in the memory. Over 300 people of all age groups attended a tea party in the afternoon including over 73 evacuee veterans and families, who were personally invited. In the evening 100 guests danced ‘The Lambeth Walk’ and other old favourites at a WWII themed dance commemorating the 60th anniversary of the evacuees retuning to their villages. The Orford Amateur Dramatics, a group of young entertainers, gave three performances of a highly creative show of WWII songs and sketches. Two permanent Display Panels telling the story of the evacuation of Sudbourne and Iken to make way for the Battle Training Ground are to be sited in Sudbourne Village Hall. An open invitation to local residents to view the proposed panels with a script and pictures written and selected from material in the Orford Museum collection is planned for later in June with the aim to have the panels ready for unveiling at an October exhibition. At the same time a special edition of the Orford and District Local History Bulletin (published by The Friends of Orford Museum) will be issued covering this unique piece of local history. The Museum continues to collect WWII artefacts and archive material from the local residents. The plan is to exhibit these at an extended WWII Exhibition in Orford Town Hall on 18 and 19 October. The schoolwork and project photographs will also be on show. Currently a team led by Margaret Poulter, curator of Orford Museum, is busy designing and preparing displays. Do keep your diary free. Finally two films are now in production. These are the project co-ordinator’s first attempt at archive films (following training by the Oral History Society) using the equipment bought with the project grant and which will be available for future recording of local oral history and events. Those with memories of the Evacuation of Sudbourne are being interviewed and editing will take place over the summer. The other film is based on the OAD entertainment at the May party and includes clips of some who attended the party and dance! These will be shown over the exhibition weekend. By the end of 2008 Orford Museum hopes to upload much of the photographic and film material on to Orford Museum and other websites and to conserve the digital material for future generations. Veronica Worrall Project Co-0rdinator Orford Museum Trust Article for Suffolk Museums Group Newsletter      June 2008
		September 2007 Exhibition  Sudbourne Village Hall
		Orford School Display of work about the Evacuation of Sudbourne
		Orford Amateur Dramatics show at the commemorative tea party  May 2008
		An evacuee veteran dancing at the WWII Dance May 2008
		Filming on location at Sudbourne Park, the base for the army from the Battle Training Ground