250 profiles of people affected by the events of 1914 to 1918 now line the route between Catterick Garrison and Richmond.
The installation day saw schoolchildren, volunteers and museum staff armed with cable ties, pins and hammers, placing a profile board approximately every 20 paces along the two and a half mile route.
Later on the afternoon, we were really touched by the residents of Frenchgate – the road which leads to the regimental war memorial – who answered a knock on their doors to be faced with one of the team brandishing a ribbon board and asking them to display it in their window.
It’s all turned into a wonderful and poignant tribute, which has brought lots of people together at this centenary anniversary of the end of the First World War.
Thank you to everyone who has submitted stories, brought in information, family photographs and documents, attended a research drop in day, explored the mysteries of their lofts, encouraged relatives to reminisce, and generally embraced this rather ambitious project, which has not involved a single piece of actual ribbon, wholeheartedly. If you’ve ever visited our museum, you will already know that, for us, it’s all about the human story.
Yes, we set that within a historic, political or military context, but we firmly believe that by thinking a little about the people who lived through the events of the past, we can help explain things which can often seem alien or remote to us as the years progress.
