World War I: Yateley's story In 2014, the Yateley Society mounted an exhibition on the theme of Yateley in World War I.
These were displayed in turn in Yateley Library, Frogmore College, the Green opposite the War Memorial on Remembrance Sunday and, early in 1915, in Yateley Manor School. The information from the exhibition can be found on the Society's website: www.yateleysociety.org.uk More detailed information about Yateley men who died in service in both world wars and who are commemorated on the War Memorial can be found in Graham Fleuty's excellent book Yateley Men at War - Heartbeats of Remembrance, which can be purchased from Yateley Town Council, Discoveries or from the Society at one of its meetings. All proceeds from sales go to the local charity Adam's Hoofing Hut which was established in memory of Yateley man Adam Brown who was killed in service in Afghanistan in 2010. Linked to the exhibition was a well-attended talk on The Hampshire Regiment in the Great
War given in October 2014 by Roger Coleman (Major rtd) OBE as the latest in the Society's series of Library lectures. Valerie Kerslake's illustrated essay "1914 in Yateley" provides the reader with a guided tour of Yateley on the eve of war in the style of her booklets Today and Yesterday and A Walk on Cricket Hill, both published by the Society and still available. Together, these publications give the reader a good indication of how much (or little) of Yateley as it was a hundred years ago remains. Some of these Georgian, Victorian and Edwardian features now have the protection of conservation area and listed status, albeit scarred by some unsightly modern intrusions. However, not all modern developments need be unsympathetic to the architectural successes of the past. For this reason one of the objectives of Yateley Society is to influence planning to ensure that our local heritage is not lost. The Society's local history research team is continuing its investigations on the themes listed above, which focussed on 1914, and others, into 1915, with the possibility of further exhibitions. The Society is also involved with local planning and nature conservation.
The War Memorial on Reading Road
If you are interested in the work of the Yateley Society you can discover more from the Society's website, their Facebook page (www.facebook.com/yateleysociety) or by following them on Twitter@yateleysociety.
| Yateley Town Guide
There were six displays in the Yateley Society exhibition: • The Home Front: What was Yateley Like at the outbreak of War? • Mobilisation of the 4th Hants in 1914 • Turkey enters the War! Yateley men get involved • The Home Front: Auxiliary Hospitals • Belgian Refugees • Yateley Men who fought with the Royal Navy during 1914
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