A VILLAGE was transformed back 100 years yesterday (Saturday, March 21), as part of a project to mark the centenary of the First World War.

Dozens of villagers from Witton le Wear, near Bishop Auckland, dressed up for the live exhibition in the community centre with the aim of bringing history to life and give an insight into how the Great War affected a tight knit-rural community.

The two-year project has been funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund who gave the village a £7,700 grant to host several events.

And more than 600 people turned up to take part in the activities which included a live recruitment campaign of local young men, a 1914 kitchen and exhibition of Women’s Institute cooking and a live band performing music and popular sing-a-longs from the era.

An Edwardian wedding was also brought to life through historical displays about the village and children got the chance to experience what school life was like in 1914 after representatives from Beamish set up a period classroom and took lessons.

Witton le Wear resident and lead organiser, Anne Yuill, said: We wanted to capture what it was like 100 years ago.

“We started a year ago and have had other events like a tea dance and we have quite a lot of other things planned.”

She added: “There are a lot of people who have really got behind the project.”

Mrs Yuill said all the information would be compiled into a book and sent to the villagers so they would be able to have a token of the event.

Other groups taking part in the exhibition included the current Witton le Wear Women’s Institute (WI) which was founded in 1916.

Long-serving member, Sheila Tock, 84, chatted to the public about her experience of the WI as she has been a member since she was 17 and her grandparents were founding members of the village group.

Fellow member, Christina Haworth, explained how the WI was one of the first in the country and still played an important part in village life.

“We were one of the first in the county and one of 16 in the country starting in March 2016 so we are linked that with today’s celebrations and we are trying to recreate what a kitchen was like in the war,” she said.

“The day is great, we are really enjoying it.”