ST LUKE’S Church Hall in Holmes Chapel plays host in November to a major exhibition telling the story of the village during and immediately after The Great War.

The free exhibition is being staged by the Local History Group of the Holmes Chapel and District U3A, which is planning a three-day display called ‘Armistice 1918’.

The exhibition is to be held over the weekend of November 9 to 11.

Visitors can experience the story of the troops who went to war, how the community rallied round and the celebration and commemoration of the end of the war.

The research carried out by the group is illustrated on displays and booklets will be available describing what happened to the community during the war and afterwards.

The exhibition which was staged to coincide with the 100th anniversary of the start of the war in 2014 has been supplemented with more work about how the village celebrated the end of the war and commemorated the loss of so many villagers in the fighting.

John Clowes, the leader of the Local History Group said: “We are very grateful to a number of organisations who have supported our work with donations to pay for the staging of the exhibition which we hope will be an important community event.

“Several of the builders who are currently constructing houses in Holmes Chapel have helped, and we hope to attract some of the new residents on these developments so they can learn more about the history of the community they have joined.”

Donations have been received from Bloor Homes, Persimmon Homes and Russell Homes as well as a Community Grant from Cheshire East Council.

The exhibition will be open from Friday, November 9 to Sunday, 11 November 11. As well as the displays there will be refreshments, music provided by local groups and the schools and souvenir booklets.

The photograph shows some of the group posing with a full-size cut-out of Fred Burgess, one of the Holmes Chapel soldiers who survived the war.

Group members from left are, John Clowes, Peter Cotton, Stella Freer, John Cowburn, Julia Wilson, Rod Cameron, Alan Perrin, Val White, Cath Cameron.