YEAR six pupils at Skipton's Water Street Primary School have been researching the life of a former student who died in the First World War.

It is the first in a series of sessions which will be rolled out to schools across Craven this year.

Following a visit to the town's war memorial to record the names of former Water Street students, pupils spent time at Skipton Library researching the life of one of those students, Harry Tindall.

And they were excited to learn he had Royal connections - his first cousin twice removed is England World Cup Rugby hero Mike Tindall, who is married to the Queen's granddaughter Zara Phillips.

Harry was in the King's Royal Rifle Corps and died in September 1916, aged 20.

The pupils had an opportunity to use the library’s wide range of local history resources, including copies of the Craven Herald and Wensleydale Pioneer on microfilm. They also had rare access to the schools’ log books from the period, which revealed interesting information about what life was like at school in the early 20th century.

Jenny Macnab, deputy head and year six class teacher, said: "It was such an amazing opportunity for them to be able to undertake their own research on Harry Tindall.

"We are hoping that the children will now be able to use the skills they have learnt to start to do further independent research into members of their family who fought in World War One.”

The project was part of the Heritage Lottery-funded Craven and the First World War Project, which will run throughout the next three years.

Project officer Rob Freeman said: “It is really important that we use the opportunity of the First World War centenary to empower young people to learn for themselves about the huge sacrifices that were made by men and women from their area and to help them understand the connection between local, national and international history.”

If you would like to be involved in the project, working as a volunteer to help build a greater understanding of what life was like in Craven during the war, or have your own idea for a centenary-related project, please contact Rob on 01756 706225 or email rfreeman@cravendc.gov.uk.