Scarborough Library Invites Residents to Share VE Day Memories for 80th Anniversary

Scarborough residents are being encouraged to delve into their family history and share recollections of how VE Day was marked in the town back in 1945.

As part of a special event at Scarborough Library, people are invited to contribute their stories and photographs to create a lasting archive for future generations.

While the library will be hosting activities throughout the day from 11:00 am to 3:00 pm, the specific focus on Memories of VE Day in Scarborough will take place in the afternoon, with a session from 1:00 pm to 2:30 pm. The event is free to attend.

Lee Threadgold from the Animated Object Theatre Company is one of the organisers, he says they are keen to capture a local picture of what was happening across Scarborough on that important day in 1945. 

"We are going to be talking to people about their recollections or their family's recollections of how VE Day was spent in the town, whether that be at a street party, whether they were a serving member of the Armed forces, or they have family who were, and just getting a picture of what was going on across the town on that particular day in 1945.

It's an important occasion. It's one of those things where we really need to capture those memories from families and from those who still have that within living memory while these things are with us, and we're going be creating a map across the town of what was going on. In various different locations on that very important day."

The initiative aims to complement the national images often seen of VE Day, which are often of London, by focusing specifically on Scarborough and the surrounding area.

"What we are focusing on is obviously Scarborough and the surrounding area specifically.

We have archive images that we will be using and some archive footage that we found of things that were going on in the town at the day. Memorial services and the services of Thanksgiving that were going on in the days following on from VE Day as well. And we really want to get a picture of of what the local scene was like on that day."

Lee says that if residents have photographs relating to Scarborough's street parties or events from the 1940s, they are encouraged to bring them along to the event to become part of a memory box and help create the map of VE Day in Scarborough.

"If people bring along their pictures and are happy to talk about them we can quite happily take a snap of them or scan them.

We're not expecting to keep people's pictures, obviously they're very important to them. But it would be lovely to share stories with people and to find out their memories, their recollections and their family traditions as they were going on at the time. So just come along. We will be there. Some of the library staff will be there and we'll be more than happy to speak to you."

The purpose of collecting these memories is to help create a VE Day memory box for the library which will be kept at the library as a record for future generations. 

Lee added, 

"Everything that we record will be kept and will be stored there within the archive at the library service so that people can look back on that in years to come". 

It is seen as crucial to capture these memories from families and those with living memory while they are still with us.

At the Scarborough event, there will also be music and imagery from the 1940s in Yorkshire, vintage footage of the Yorkshire seaside, and a live performance by the Scarborough Wellbeing choir to mark the 80th anniversary of VE Day. Attendees will also have the chance to mark their memories on a map of the town as a record of this historic occasion. Library staff, visitors, and local care home residents are expected to share memories throughout the day, with tea and scones available.

The event at Scarborough Library is part of a broader initiative by North Yorkshire Council Libraries to showcase local and community history during May, which marks Local and Community History Month. This year's events coincide with the poignant 80th anniversary of VE Day.

The Last Train to Whitby exhibition will return to Scarborough Library from May 22 to 24, after 710 people attended during its visit last month. Show manager Chris Martin built a replica Gallows Goods depot to mark the 60th anniversary of the Scarborough to Whitby line closing. The 14-foot working scale model will be on display alongside photographs and memorabilia.

Whitby Library will host a month-long exhibition to celebrate the history of the town’s schools, including photographs and documents. It will detail how the schools have changed in size, location, and how education has evolved through the decades.

North Yorkshire County Record Office, which is celebrating its 75th anniversary in May, will be hosting pop-up events in Newby and Scalby Library from 10.30am to 3.30pm on May 12.

North Yorkshire Council’s executive member for libraries, Cllr Simon Myers, said: 

“Local and Community History Month is always an exciting time at our libraries, and we work hard to host exhibitions and events to interest all generations.

“We know that local residents are always keen to engage with their local heritage, and, with the poignant 80th anniversary of VE Day coming up in May, we hope more people than ever get involved.

“Our libraries boast a range of resources from local history collections to maps. We also offer online research tools including the British Newspaper Archive, Ancestry and Find my Past.”