Actor and The One Show reporter Larry Lamb will be joined by broadcaster and author Kate Adie when the BBC World War One At Home Tour heads to the Nottingham Fields of Battle Exhibition, Old Market Square, Nottingham, on Friday 19th September and Saturday 20th September (10am – 5pm).
This free family-friendly event will include hands-on activities, performances and interactive sessions designed to appeal to everyone from eight to 80.
Larry Lamb will host the Briefing Room, presenting a series of enlightening talks with expert contributors, covering a whole host of World War One topics. He will be joined by Kate Adie to talk about the vital role of women during the war, and military historian and author Jon Cooksey will be sharing some of the inspiring stories at the heart of The Great War.
The event will offer the opportunity to reflect on the dramatic impact the war had on families and communities, as well as helping people to explore their own relatives’ links to the war with Imperial War Museums’ ‘Lives of the First World War’ activity.
Visitors can volunteer to be put through their paces on an outdoor Parade Ground and make their own World War One At Home ID Permit in The Recruitment Office to take away.
Children can take on Harriet’s Spy Quest as they try to solve a series of clues around the site, an activity inspired by CBBC drama Harriet’s Army.
People can also learn how medicine and communications were transformed during the war, including demonstrations of how carrier pigeons were an invaluable resource for sending messages. They can try using Morse code, Semaphore, Field Telephones and radio equipment with the help of The Royal Signals Museum. The Royal College of Pathologists will also show how developments in science helped to save the lives of injured soldiers.
Larry Lamb said: “I’m delighted to be taking part in BBC Learning’s World War One commemorative events around the UK. As someone who finds history fascinating, I’m learning more about how The Great War touched the lives of people both on the Home Front and on the battlefields of Europe. I’m talking to a host of well-known faces from the world of journalism, literature, and television, and together with a panel of local experts we’re discovering what life was like during this unforgettable conflict.”
BBC Radio Nottingham will also broadcast live from the event. Presenter Sarah Julian will be hosting the Conference Room where there will be various talks on a range of subjects from food rationing – and the story of the Nottinghamshire baker who was arrested for putting almonds on top of a cake – to the counties missing World War One memorials. Playwright Andy Barrett will also be reading letters from the Front, which inspired him to write a play about The Great War, and there will be musical performances from patriotic singer Johnny Victory.
The station will also broadcast Verity Cowley’s afternoon show from Market Square on the Friday (19th ) , from 12pm-4pm, and Frances Finn will be keeping listeners updated with what’s to come on the Saturday (20th ) from 9am till 12pm with live reports from the event. And not forgetting BBC Radio Nottingham’s Big Poppy Knit campaign, asking listeners to knit one poppy for every fallen man from Nottinghamshire in World War One – 11,000 in total.
For a full list of BBC World War One At Home Tour dates and venues as well as World War One programming on the BBC visit www.bbc.co.uk/ww1.