PENARTH residents were given the chance to sample weapons and memorabilia from the First World War during a special commemorative event in the town council offices over the weekend.

An exhibition entitled ‘Penarth Remembers’, featuring war medals, weapons, press cuttings, diaries and other painstaking research from local historians, was held at West House on Saturday, October 18.

The exhibition was organised by Penarth Town Council after the formation of a World War I Commemoration Group earlier this year, with locals clubs and organisations invited to work together to hold events to mark the centenary of the outbreak of World War One.

Groups including the Western Front Association, Glamorgan Heritage Society, Penarth Library and Penarth Quakers all held stalls detailing how they were affected by the war both on the home front and the front line.

To give visitors a feel of what life was like on the home front during the conflict, there were also toys, games, sweets and cakes that were popular during the period. Stanwell Road Baptist Church also held a WWI cafe, while St Augustine’s Church also opened its doors to coincide with the event to display the histories of some of the men whose names are on the recently restored Roll of Honour.

Cross Keys Silver Band, led by conductor Benjamin Atkinson, also held three half hour performances of songs from the era on the grounds of West House.

Marion Avon, who first brought a treasure trove of World War One memorabilia to the commemorative group that helped spark the idea of an exhibition, brought her souvenirs to the event.

She said that it was a joy to see others enjoying the souvenirs from her father-in-law Ivanhoe Avon, who was a rifleman and signalman during the war.

“It’s good that Penarth remembers and that has been shown by the amount of people here today,” she said.

David Hughes, from the Western Front Association, talked people through his organisation’s stall at the event,

“It’s been an excellent turnout with a lot of extremely interesting things in the exhibition,” he said.

“Some of the items in our exhibition are the personal items of our members that they wanted others to see.”

One of the items on display was a Lee Enfield 303 Snub Nose Rifle which many people were keen to get their hands on.

10-year-old Aled Falcon was lucky enough to be given a demonstration from David Hughes about the history of the weapon and how it was fired.

“It’s really terrifying,” said Aled.

“If someone fired that at me I would run.”

He added that he enjoyed the exhibition as it taught him what it was like during the war.

Marcus Payne, from Penarth Library, also held a stall detailing cuttings from the Penarth Times from 1914, and focusing on soldiers on the front line and how the local community rallied around to support each other.

Penarth Quakers held a stall detailing the meaning behind the white feather and the difficulties that conscientious objectors faced during the war.

Penarth Town Mayor, Cllr Martin Turner, said the event was a huge success and they were already planning on what to do next year.

“It’s a very good turnout,” he said.

“We waited until other organisations had their commemorative events before we held ours.

“We now need to think whether we do one every 12 months, but next time we would have to do something different.”