Help recreate iconic photo taken 100 years ago at Lancaster war memorial village

One hundred years ago, in November 1924, a remarkable event took place in Lancaster – one that local people are now being asked to help recreate.

An iconic photograph was taken of Field Marshall Earl Haig at the official opening of the settlement built for disabled local veterans of World War One and their families known as the Westfield War Memorial Village Lancaster.

The crowds turned out in thousands to see the man who had led the British and Empire contribution to the Allied war victory.

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Now, to mark the centenary of the visit, the present trustees of the Westfield charity are hoping to recreate the photograph taken on the bowling green that continues to provide a focal point for the

The iconic photograph taken of Earl Haig at the official opening of the settlement built for disabled local veterans of World War One and their families known as the Westfield War Memorial Village Lancaster.placeholder image
The iconic photograph taken of Earl Haig at the official opening of the settlement built for disabled local veterans of World War One and their families known as the Westfield War Memorial Village Lancaster.

ex-Service community off West Road.

Westfield chairman Dr David Elliot said: “The first residents moved onto the village in 1919, but the trustees continually struggled to get a suitable national figure to agree to travel to Lancaster to

formally open it.

"By 1924 the first full phase of the village had been completed and Haig kindly agreed to travel down from Scotland to officially honour it.

“Haig also unveiled a new memorial in the King’s Own Royal Regiment Chapel at Lancaster Castle on the same day, but it is the image of him on the bowling green at Westfield, surrounded by

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crowds of local people, that really captured the mood of the visit and has since gone on to become one of Lancaster’s most recognisable images of the era.”

Dr Elliot added: “To mark the centenary of Westfield’s official opening, we will be hosting a talk at The Storey as well as some guided tours of the village, but we also thought it would be fitting to try

and recreate the photo of Haig on the bowling green.

"To make this work, we are inviting local people to come and help us out. We are not asking people to wear period outfits, but just to throw on a warm winter coat and pop down to help us create the sense of a crowd.”

Anybody interested in helping should simply turn up at the village at 10am on Saturday, November 9. It is hoped that the photo shoot will not take much longer than 90 minutes.

For those interested in hearing more about the history of the remarkable and still thriving Westfield settlement, the free talk at The Storey will be given by historian Dr Martin Purdy at 6pm on Wednesday, November 27 (limited tickets allocated on a first come first served basis), whilst the tours of the village – led by Dr Purdy and Professor Corinna Penniston Bird from Lancaster University – will take place on Saturday, November 30.

Further details from Mrs Stretch from [email protected].

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