SKIPTON’S Syrian refugee families spent a day at the town’s Craven Museum learning about what life was like at Raikeswood Camp, the First World War camp for German officers..

The families took part in a number of activities, including creating a short animation film bringing to life the story of one prisoner who ended up in Skipton after travelling across the world following his escape from a Japanese POW camp in 1915.

They also learned a German card game played by the officers in the camp, and tried their hand at baking using First World War rations to make ‘Trench Cake’ which would have been sent to soldiers on the front line.

The day was organised by Craven District Council’s ‘Craven and the First World War’ project, which has been supported by National Lottery players via the Heritage Lottery Fund, and made possible with the support of the Refugee Council.

It is one of a number of community projects to mark a hundred years since Skipton saw the arrival of more than 500 German Officers to the town.

Project officer, Rob Freeman, said:“It was great to welcome the families to the museum and to share with some of Skipton’s newest arrivals what life was like for those arriving in the town a century ago. While their circumstances are very different, both groups have had to come to terms with being away from home and learning to adapt to living in a new place, getting to know and understand its people, weather and landscapes. It was nice to hear from the families that the welcome they have received since being resettled in Skipton has been much warmer than the one the German Officers got 100 years ago.”

The families will get a further chance to unearth the history of Skipton’s lost WW1 camp by taking part in the archaeological dig which will be returning to the site of the former camp in the Raikes area of Skipton during the first week in August.

A short documentary film about the project will be made and will feature in an exhibition about Craven during the war at the museum later in the year. As well as documenting the project, the film will explore the theme of adapting to life in a new place by capturing the refugee families experiences of resettlement in Skipton and comparing these with the impressions of the town given by the German prisoners a hundred years ago in their memoirs, Kriegesgefangen in Skipton.

The memoirs are currently being translated by a team of translators led by the German department at the University of Leeds.

The Craven and the First World War project is planning a series of events, exhibitions and performances to mark the centenary in the Craven district. It involves a collection of community-focused organisations including Craven Museum and Gallery, The Museum of North Craven Life, The Folly, Settle, and North Yorkshire County Council Library and Community Services.