Record our history with Isle project

The memorial to RAF Sandtoft (on private ground) alongside Belton Rd, Sandtoft (next to the Trolley Bus Museum) (2011). The Isle of Axholme boasts a number of memorials, all of which have a story to tell

The Landscape of Heroes project – part of the Isle of Axholme and Hatfield Chase Landscape Partnership – plans to run a series of 12 free workshops throughout 2018 into early 2019, to develop volunteers’ skills in such areas as archival research, accessing and using digital archives.

The history scheme is organised by the Landscape Heritage Research Foundation and coordinated day-to-day by Chris Percy and Sue Lee, and overseen by Professor Ian Rotherham of Sheffield Hallam University, who is chairman of the group.

The project is funded thanks to money raised by National Lottery players awarded by the Heritage Lottery Fund through the Isle of Axholme and Hatfield Chase Landscape Partnership.

The scheme will focus on work with local people to re-discover a lost heritage of military landscapes in the area.

Clearly of huge significance during WW2 with the major airfields, much of the history and heritage is in danger of being lost.

Chris Percy said: “This project sets out to capture memories and to record the heritage which remains.

“The project organisers want to recruit volunteers who have an interest in both military history from the Civil War to the Cold War, and in local and social history.

“A series of free workshops will help by developing volunteers’ skills in areas including undertaking fieldwork and recording and understanding the many aspects of land-use for military and civil defence purposes. The aim is to produce a lasting digital resource via a project web site with leaflets and booklets, a heritage trail and phone app.”

The project will take in aspects of military land use and the people connected with it from the mediaeval period to the Cold War. Landscape of Heroes will not just concentrate on the physical remains and locations – emphasis will also be placed on the human and personal aspects of the military histories.

The first workshop will be a ‘Discovery Day’ at Moorends Miners’ Welfare, Friday, May 4, from 11am. Anybody interested can call Chris Percy on 0114 272 4227.