A Look at the Effects on Family Life in Derbyshire's High Peak During The

A LOOK AT THE EFFECTS ON FAMILY LIFE IN DERBYSHIRE’S HIGH PEAK DURING THE GREAT WAR 1914-1918 JONATHAN D’HOOGHE 1 2 This work is dedicated to all of the families and individuals whose lives were inexorably changed by the events at home and abroad during the Great War 1914-1918. The war memorial at Chapel en le Frith The idea for this study came from the organising committee of the Chapel en le Frith Male Voice Choir. A choir formed in 1918 by returning servicemen. The newspaper archival research has been carried out by members of the choir during 2017 and 2018, notably, Steve Thomas, Ian Laing, Peter Bowes, Peter Baxter, Bob Marsden, Steve Brown and Richard Foulkes and the research has been edited and written up by Jonathan D’Hooghe to provide a snapshot of life in the High Peak between 1914-1918. It has not been possible to trace the copyright owner of all of the photographs used. Therefore, please contact the Chapel en le Frith Male Voice Choir should there be any issues. Our grateful thanks are given for their use in this not for profit work. 3 CHAPEL EN LE FRITH MALE VOICE CHOIR FOUNDED 1918 AND THE EFFECT OF THE GREAT WAR ON THE LOCAL POPULACE On the 4th August 1914, Great Britain declared war on Germany after Germany refused to withdraw its army from neutral Belgium. So began Britain’s involvement in the First World War, a cataclysmic event that would change or end the lives of millions of people around the globe. On the Home Front, the established cycle of life changed drastically for all classes and gender. Men volunteered in their thousands through 1914/15 for the services and in 1916 conscription was introduced for the first time. As men left the established workplace for the services, women filled their roles in the industrial and munitions factories and on the farms. The suffragists gave up their struggle with the government in return for a promise for votes for women at the end of the war. The introduction of the Defence of the Realm Act (DORA) in 1914 regulated the lives of ordinary citizens in a way that had never been known before. This new law gave the Government sweeping powers to act in any way it thought fit and restricted the liberties of its citizens. It introduced British Summer Time, restricted the sale of binoculars (!), regulated the strength of beer and forbade the ringing of church bells to mention just a few of the many areas it covered. The Liberal government of Herbert Asquith soon realised that the mounting casualty lists of 1914 made it impossible for the bodies of the dead to be returned to the UK. As the lists grew and were published in the newspapers, a wave of spontaneous street shrines and memorials sprang up especially in urban areas. The government attempted to control this outbreak of “memorialisation” and in 1915 The Civic Arts Association was formed. One of its tasks was to promote good design in the production of war memorials. However, such was the desire to memorialise the dead that the speed at which projects took effect thwarted any attempt at legislative control. Although conflict continued in many regions into the 1920s, it is widely known that fighting on the Western Front of France and Flanders came to an end with an Armistice that took effect at 11am on 11 of November 1918. Great Britain and its Empire allies had suffered very nearly one million deaths in battle with as many as 2.5 million severely wounded, often amputees or with other life changing injuries, men and women trying to come to terms with their disabilities. Therefore, post war community memorialisation accelerated rapidly and although there was no central control, most memorials tended towards the Christian, conservative form of a stone cross 4 often sited in the village churchyard. Some communities opted for a functional rather than a visual memorial, often a new village hall or a playing field. In the High Peak, alongside the traditional war memorials, a choir was born. Chapel-en-le-Frith Male Voice Choir was formed in 1918 by young men returning from the Great War and was originally known as Chapel en le Frith Ex-Servicemen’s Choir. Soon afterwards it widened its membership base and was given the name we know today. The first long serving conductor was Tom Longson, who held the position for thirty years, until 1949. Tom’s nephew, Bert Longson along with George Muir, Joe Lomas and Joe Pearson were the original founding members. In the following newspaper extracts, we will examine the effect that the war had on the High Peak communities and discover how the communities evolved through to 1918 and the return of the surviving servicemen. 1914 The British Expeditionary Force (BEF) arrived in France in mid-August and fired its first shots in anger at Mons. Life for those at home was already starting to change; The Buxton Herald and Gazette (BHG) reported that ‘….events to be abandoned on account of the War [include] the annual show of the Whaley Bridge Horticultural Society and the annual exhibition of the Dove Holes Society.’ The war also affected ‘Chapel-en-le-Frith Horticultural Society, which has decided to abandon this year.’ On 22 August the BEF was yet to face the onslaught at Mons but DORA was in action at home. The Buxton Advertiser (BA) reported that; ‘Oscar Weiss, a German, and employed as a porter at St Ann’s Hotel was charged, at a special court, with failing to register himself in accordance with the regulations.’ Oscar had been in the UK since 1900 but such was the suspicion of foreigners, that he was remanded into custody. In contrast, the BA stated that; ‘Last evening, music-lovers of Buxton had another delightful treat provided by Herr W. Iff’s Orchestra…..’ – seems that a hotel porter may have been a spy but not an orchestra conductor! Further concerts were held at the Opera House and the Buxton Hydro Hotel, the event at the Opera House being a ‘War Matinee – All Of The Proceeds Will Be Devoted To The War Fund’. In the 28 August edition of the BHG, it was reported that ‘The Buxton Rifle Club has largely increased its membership, [as] so many are anxious to learn how to use and sight a rifle.’ The initial patriotism shown by so many surfaced in many different ways, the BHG again; ‘Mr E C Stott has given sufficient wool to knit 100 pairs of socks for those who are on active service, and 5 there are many ladies in Buxton who are clever with the needles - it is hoped that the wool will soon be made up.’ On 26 August, the BHG was reporting the names of the first deaths in battle and that ‘Frith Knoll, Chapel-en-le-Frith, the residence of Mrs Spencer, has been offered to the local branch of the Red Cross Society as a convalescent home for sailors and soldiers.’ By September, the local communities had set up patriotic war funds and those often more affluent members of society were actively donating substantial sums. Their names appeared in the newspapers for all to see. The BHG again, 2September; ‘The total of the Buxton War Fund to date is £2,302 2s 5d, including £112 collected in the King Sterndale parish. The list of further subscriptions will appear in the High Peak Herald on Saturday and the Buxton Herald on Wednesday next.’ The following week, the BHG reported a stirring speech given by the local dominating aristocratic landowner, the Duke of Devonshire. Under the headline; ‘A Call To Arms. Eloquent Appeals to the Young Men of Peakland – Your Country Needs You.’ The Duke stated ‘The one question which you have to ask yourselves is “Is there any reason why I should stay behind.” ‘ In the 16 September edition of the BHG, the news was mixed. Stories told of a Buxton lady who had forwarded briar pipes and tobacco to the value of £100 to be sent to the troops at the front and that two well known local journalists; ‘W E Brunt (Herald) and F Standbridge (Advertiser)’ had enlisted in Lord Kitchener’s army. This optimistic and patriotic news was shrouded by the first announcement of a local death in battle. ‘Harry Langford, a foreman on the Chinley and Whaley Bridge Sewerage Works, has been killed in action at the front. Langford was a reservist belonging to the Shropshire Regiment.’ Despite the mounting casualty lists, volunteers were still coming forward; ‘Stirring scenes were witnessed at Glossop on Monday, when about 170 recruits for Lord Kitchener’s Army took their departure from the town. The men assembled at the Drill Hall and, accompanied by the Whitfield 6 Bugle Band and Mr S Hill-Wood1i MP, marched to the station where they were given a rousing send off by a large crowd.’ Recruits leaving Chapel en le Frith September 1914 – Almost everyone in a cap or a straw boater. Although there must have been a sadness in many families as the menfolk marched off to war, these events also contributed to a sense of humour; the BHG reported that a lady entered a butcher’s shop in Buxton “Well, missus, you look mighty cheerful this morning – what’s up?” asked the butcher, “Oh, it’s all right” she replied, “My old man has been called away to the army, and I’m feeling a bit of peace as it were – you understand!” As the BEF and the French army retreated through September to the Marne, the BA was able to report the late season local cricket scores and at the same time, note that Buxton now had its first wounded man; ‘A letter was received on Tuesday stating that W R Sanders was in Belgium wounded, in one knee in the retirement from Mons.’ Despite the mounting casualties of the BEF (some 15,000 by early September) the wave of patriotic fervour sweeping the country was kept alive by the propaganda reports of German atrocities in Belgium.

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