Blog | Kirkgate Calling: Aspects of Safety, The Great War, The local shool and railway excursions at Kirkgate Station from research by volunteers

Kirkgate Calling: Aspects of Safety, The Great War, The local shool and railway excursions at Kirkgate Station from research by volunteers

Our first event for 2016 is our annual joint meeting with Wakefield Historical Society on Wednesday, 13th January, and this year, it's the Historical Society's turn to host the meeting. Our venue for the event will be Unity Works, Westgate, Wakefield, WF1 1EP.

As members of both societies will know, the refurbishment of Kirkgate Station by the charity Groundwork Wakefield is now complete, and tenants for Kirkgate's refurbished accommodation already include a café and a photographer, and there are plans to staff the station. In parallel with the refurbishment of Kirkgate Station, Groundwork carried out the Kirkgate Calling community project to research and disseminate the history of the station. Wakefield Historical Society trained and supported volunteers to research the history of  the station.

At the joint meeting with the Historical Society, four of those volunteers will present a summary of their findings. Wakefield Historical Society Secretary, Phil Judkins, will provide a short historical introduction, following which Ken Rowley will illustrate the tragedies - and occasional humour! - of early railway accidents; Sally Bigwood will talk about Kirkgate's local community of Primrose Hill with her work on St Mary's Church School's ‘Class of 1881’ and, in this centenary year of the Battle of the Somme, Lorraine Simpson will follow the experience of one of Kirkgate’s railway workers during the Great War. John Seacombe will finish with his research on happier times with railway excursions from Kirkgate station.

The meeting will start at 7.30pm.