Ryde Social Heritage Group research the social history of the citizens of Ryde, Isle of Wight. Documenting their lives, businesses and burial transcriptions.
RYDE SOCIAL HERITAGE GROUP
Based at Ryde Cemetery Heritage & Learning Centre. Preserving, documenting and promoting the social history of Ryde on the Isle of Wight.
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THE CHANGING FACE OF RYDE

Union St Past & Present
Union St Past & Present

The Changing Face of Ryde
Saturday 16 November 2013 from 10am
Ryde Library, George Street, Ryde

Ryde Social Heritage Group will officially launch their new project ‘The Changing Face of Ryde’ on Saturday 16 November at Ryde Library. The project will encourage you to look at life in Ryde 100 years ago, and find out for yourself what it was like for families living here and to discover how, like people across the world, the First World War was going to change their lives (and change the world) forever. The First World War would be very different from the Victorian/Imperial campaigns many had glorified in. Every family, rich or poor, would be affected in some way. Ryde had grown and prospered during the Victorian era, maintained its status during Edwardian times but what happened next?

Here’s some questions for you to answer:

• Was your family living in Ryde 100 years ago? Did any of them go to war, become a casualty or were they lucky to survive? What about those left at home, the women and children, the elderly or infirm? What stories will you discover?

• Do you know who lived in your house 100 years ago? (or who/what was on the site of your house if it is not that old!) How different was their family to yours today?

• Do you know what your street was like a century ago? What sort of people lived there? What were their occupations? How has it changed today?

• What was going on in Ryde a century ago? What hobbies and pastimes were popular? What social events were happening in the town? The world was on the brink of war, but most families were just getting on with their normal lives.

Using our own extensive research files, local archives and resources, and family stories, we aim to help you discover the answers and how Ryde changed with the onset of war and beyond. We have joined the Imperial War Museum First World War Centenary Partnership, a network of local, regional, national and international community, cultural and educational organisations. Together, through the partnership, we want to connect current and future generations with the lives, stories and impact of the First World War.

We invite you all to come and take part. RSHG Members will be available all day from 10 o’clock to help you start your research, show you some of the resources available and share stories and their discoveries about the town. There will be displays, research folders and ideas you can do at home. Start a story box or scrapbook to store your memories and stories. We will have some examples on display and can help you make your own. If you already have a ‘keepsake box’ full of those special moments to remember and pass on bring it along to ‘show and tell’ your story.