Students at Newbury College have been working with The Kennet Valley at War Trust to preserve West Berkshire's wartime history and promote its heritage to future generations after it received grant money to conserve the Second World War artefacts. Students will be photographing items from the museum to include in a database driven website that they have designed as part of their College course.
The trust has received a grant of £30,000 from the Heritage Lottery Fund to conserve and enhance the artefacts, which will be used in a project focusing on the history of the Kennet Valley during the conflict. The collection, based in a small museum within Littlecote House, near Hungerford, ranges from a three-ton Sherman tank turret to part of a German Heinkel 111 bomber's wing. There are also British, Canadian and American military uniforms, photographs, helmets and badges.
The project's spokesman Tim Green said "We are thrilled to have received the support of the Heritage Lottery Fund and are confident the project will help young people and the wider community better understand and take pride in their local heritage".
The project will enable young people in the area to research, photograph and digitise the artefacts to create a new website and will be run by Trust members, students from Newbury College and Ramsbury Primary School. It will also create an education pack, which will be distributed to 250 schools in North Wiltshire, West Berkshire and Swindon, the development of three walks exploring the Kennet Valley's wartime archaeology and a series of workshops.
Newbury College's interactive media course leader Julian Bellmont said "The project is of enormous educational benefit to the students enabling them to get actively involved in the local community".
Head of Heritage Lottery Fund South East, Stuart McLeod, said "The Trust's collection reflects many different aspects of civilian and military life along the valley during the Second World War and we're pleased to support this project which will create a lasting legacy of the local community's wartime memory.