HISTORIC entertainment launched a First World War heritage project in Farnhill.

A packed audience enjoyed a Magic Lantern Show last Friday to launch the project to research the lives of village men who volunteered to serve in the war.

Expert lanternist Andrew Gill came out of retirement for the evening, and showed slides dating back to Victorian times and the First World War.

The Farnhill World War 1 Volunteers Project is funded through a £8,400 grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund, through its First World War: Then And Now programme.

The Farnhill project is researching the lives of the 68 men from the village who had already volunteered to serve in the forces before conscription was introduced in 1916, and will also explore the social context in which they lived.

The Magic Lantern show was held at Kildwick and Farnhill Institute.

Institute spokesman Chris Brigham said: “We know many of the volunteers attended shows like this in the Institute when they were on leave and it was also one of the ways people at home heard about news from the front.”

Martin Moran, from the local History Group, said: “Being in the same place and watching the same type of show as the volunteers and their families did 100 years ago really made it seem like we had stepped in time.”

There will be an introductory talk about the Volunteers Project on March 24 at 7pm in Kildwick and Farnhill Institute, for anyone interested in taking part.

Entry is free, and some of the stories that have already been uncovered about the First World War volunteers and the village will be revealed.

On the day that First World War conscription was introduced, early in 1916, Farnhill Parish Council created a Roll of Honour naming men from the village who were already serving with the armed forces.

The project will research the lives of these 68 men: before, during, and after the war and also explore what life in Farnhill was like 100 years ago, and the social context in which the First World War volunteers lived.

This information will be made widely available and easily accessible possible through talks, events, and a website featuring short biographies of the men.

Project organisers want to hear from anyone who is related to, or remembers, any of the volunteers and their families, or has photographs or other information about them.

Anyone wishing to get involved or provide information should visit farnhill.co.uk or email farnhillww1volunteers@gmail.com.