A NEW exhibition marking the centenary of the end of the First World War has opened at Fordingbridge Museum.

It features a range of original artefacts from the First World War as well as contributions from young and old in the community.

The exhibition runs until November 11 and is open 11am to 4pm excluding Sundays except November 11.

Museum manager Philippa Duckworth said: “This is one of the most ambitious exhibitions we have ever put on and it uses material from the museum collection as well as items on loan from other collections. We have involved local schoolchildren as well as groups from the local, national and international community. As we commemorate the centenary of the end of the war the exhibition is a potent reminder of the sacrifices made by families in the Fordingbridge area”

Items have been loaned by St Edward’s School at Sherfield English including a mannequin of a soldier in an original uniform, artefacts dug up on the battlefields, trench art, early gas hoods and a German bravery medal known as an iron cross.

An unusual item dug up on the site of the Battle of the Somme is a caltrop which was an arrangement of spikes designed to maim horses. These were put down in areas vulnerable to cavalry attack.

A roll of honour dating from October 1914 has also been donated to the museum for the exhibition and contains the names of local men who were serving in the armed forces. People whose families have lived in the area for some time may find their relatives listed.

Socks knitted to a First World War pattern, designed to have no seams that would rub soldiers and sailors feet, also feature in the exhibition. These were produced by local knitting groups and knitters from all over Great Britain.

Several of them were knitted by a group in Canada. The display also includes a recently restored circular knitting machine dating from the 1870s which was used by Fordingbridge Women’s Institute to knit socks, garments and bandages during the war.

Fordingbridge Twinning Association ran a competition inviting school children to produce poems prose and artwork with the theme “100 years”. A selection of the artwork and poems will be on show.

For more information go to fordingbridgemuseum.co.uk or call 01425 655222.