Programme of events Centenary commemoration of the 1918 Chilwell Shell-Filling Factory DisasterWednesday 20th June – Sunday 1st July

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Talk: Prof John Beckett The Chilwell explosion 1918 revisited Beeston & District Local History Society meeting

7.30pmChilwell Memorial Hall, 129 High Road, NG9 4AT

Wednesday20th June

Talk: Canary girls on film Maureen Rushton, author of The Canary Girls of Chilwell, tells the story of the factory and those who worked there.

Rebecca Harding, Imperial War Museum, introduces rare contemporary film footage.

7.00pmSt Mary’s Church

Monday25th June

Exhibition – runs until Sunday 1st July

St Mary’s Church, Church Lane, Attenborough, NG9 6AS

Walk: Chilwell Explosion Memorial Nature TrailMike Spencer (Notts Wildlife Trust) leads a Nature Reserve walk

6.30pmAttenborough Nature Centre, Barton Lane, Attenborough, NG9 6DY

Tuesday26th June

Concert: Combined choirs Including choirs from Chetwynd Primary Academy and George Spencer Academy as well as the Chilwell Military Wives Choir.

6.30pmSt Mary’s Church

Wednesday27th June

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Talk: James McCloskey Chilwell, The Chetwynd Period – No 6 NSFF 1915 to 1918Includes photo opportunity near memorial. Ticketed but free.

2.30-4.30pm (Arrive between 1.30pm and 2.00pm)*Chetwynd Barracks, Swiney Way, Toton, NG9 5HA

Thursday28th June

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Walk: Historic stroll around Attenborough Prof John Beckett leads Beeston & District Civic Society walk

6.30pmStarting at St Mary’s Church

Thursday28th June

Play: Swan Canaries Arletty Theatre Company. Performed in a hangar close to the site of the explosion. Tickets £5

7.30pm (Arrive between 6.15pm and 7.00pm)*Chetwynd Barracks

Friday29th June

Special Commemoration Service Preceded by a short parade led by the Nottinghamshire Band of the Royal Engineers and including a two-minute silence at 7.10pm, the time of the explosion. Ticketed but free.

from 6.30pm (Please be seated by 6.00pm)St Mary’s Church

Sunday1st July

Family day: Period tea partyJazz band, children’s activities. Period dress welcome.

from 2.00pmSt Mary’s Church grounds

ExhibitionIncluding how local willow was used for transporting shells.

Attenborough Nature Reserve Centre – runs until Sunday 1st July

Saturday30th June

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£

Deadline for securing seats at ticketed events 16th June – available from St Mary’s Church Office, 19 Church Lane, Attenborough, NG9 6AS (0115 925 4385) or office@attenboroughchurch.org.uk

* For events at Chetwynd Barracks, we need your first name and surname, address and post code and vehicle registration number. You will need to bring photo ID – driving licence, bus pass or passport – and arrive at the main gates well before the start time for document checking. Parking is available inside the barracks.

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During the First World War Britain needed millions of shells to fire on the Western Front. Many of those shells were manufactured around the country and delivered to a specially-built factory in Chilwell near Nottingham, where they were filled with explosives.

This was a highly dangerous operation. In the early evening on 1st July 1918 disaster struck. Eight tons of explosives detonated, tearing through the Mixing House and TNT Mill. It was one of Britain’s worst wartime civilian catastrophes, causing the biggest loss of life in a single explosion of the First World War. By the time the dust had settled, over 130 people lay dead. Another 250 were injured. Only 32 of those killed could be identified.

The remains of the unidentified bodies were buried in a mass grave in the churchyard at St Mary’s, Attenborough. The plots are marked by flagstones and a small granite memorial with a blue plaque. A more substantial memorial

stands on the site of the Mixing House, the epicentre of the explosion, but this is still MOD land – the Chetwynd Barracks – and so has limited public access.

On 1st July 2018 – a century after the tragedy – a new memorial will be dedicated at St Mary’s and, in the week before, a series of events will be held to commemorate the victims.

www.attenboroughchurch.org.ukSt Mary’s Church, Church Lane, Attenborough NG9 6AS

Chilwell Shell-Filling Factory explosion

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To contribute towards the £20,000 for the refurbishment of the grave and the commemorations visit: www.mydonate.bt.com/charities/attenboroughstmaryspcc