Burnt Mill Academy hosted Their Finest Hour on Wednesday 13th December, a project launched by Oxford University to forever preserve historical artefacts, before they are lost to time and disrepair. Students, teachers, and members of the public were invited to bring in photographs, letters, and other objects from the past, to share their stories and keep the memories alive for future historians to study. Photos and descriptions of the artefacts will be kept in online archives for anybody to access, from wherever they are in the world, whenever they want.

As well as this, an exhibit was set up in the main hall of the school, showing the different ways that certain subjects played a part in the wars. There was artwork of poppies and silhouettes of soldiers, newspaper clippings and poetry, information on scientists such as Alan Turing, whose computational skills cracked the Nazi’s code, and so much more. Students enthusiastic about history volunteered to show people around and explain not only why history is important, but why it’s so crucial that we celebrate it.

Anthony Dawkins, a student who participated in the event, commented this, “History is important because without remembering the past, we will repeat it, so we mustn’t forget. We also have to remember the old lessons we were taught before making new ones.”

Burnt Mill history teacher Mr Edwards, added this, “It’s so important to preserve the stories for future generations.”

Their Finest Hour is a remarkable project that will benefit the world for as long as it continues, and hopefully more and more stories can be shared and documented over the coming years.