Last week we launched our 18-month Window on Walney project with stories, singing, screenings and scones! We hosted an afternoon of vintage tea and cake, besides a screening of our short documentary ‘The German Who Came to Tea’ along with archive footage of Walney and Barrow in the 1960s.

Walney Community Centre was absolutely bursting at its seams with around 130 people joining us to share stories, watch films and hear about Signal’s exciting new community project. The event was a warm and uplifting occasion of merriment and reminiscence, and gave the people of Walney a chance to share precious stories with each other and with Signal. The afternoon started with local residents invited to share objects and tales of the Island past and present, whilst Walney Secondary School pupils helped serve tea and cake. The screening of our award-winning documentary ‘The German Who Came to Tea’ was well received, and we were delighted to have the star of the film, Annie Day, along for the show. At 102 years of age she proudly watched herself on the large screen and talked to the audience of how happy it made her to share the story on film.

The archive footage of Walney brought back many memories and recollections and a crescendo of music and singing, led by accordion player Mike Willoughby, brought the audience to a wonderful, merry finale singing the old Walney song ‘I’ve Been Looking For Winkles on Walney’. The passion and sense of community on Walney was powerfully felt and the event provided a fun opportunity for the older community of Walney to see how they could take part in, and benefit from, the project, which is kindly funded by The Health Lottery and People’s Health Trust.

For more info and to visit the Window on Walney project page click here.

To see The German Who Came to Tea click here.

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