Emsworth museum hosts its last exhibition of the year: ‘Living with War in Emsworth: The Valerie Bacon Diaries’

The display is Emsworth Museum’s final one before closing at the end of this month for the winter.

Called ‘Living with war in Emsworth: The Valerie Bacon Diaries 1939 - 1945’, it reveals the diaries kept by Valerie, who moved from London to Emsworth during the Second World War.

Valerie Bacon, who was born in 1921 in London, moved with her mother to Emsworth in August 1939, just before the war started in September 1939.

She stayed in Emsworth all of her life after moving until she died in 2002.

Valerie was a keen diary writer and the exhibition explores her life through the diaries that she kept and the letters she sent to her father between 1939 and 1945.

The letters talk about all of her daily observations including who she met, the weather, daily tasks, what was happening and what was in the news that day.

The information that she stored away in her personal diaries and letters are invaluable to the museum as they are a resource for researching the past in a way that can not be done through official records.

Valerie’s day-to-day life offers an honest depiction of what life was like during the war in Emsworth as well as allowing people attending the exhibition to connect personally with moments in history.

The exhibition has been sponsored by Zero West Watches of Bridgefoot Path, Emsworth, and pieced together by Nigel and Wendy Gossop and friends. It runs until October 30.

People can go down to the museum, which is based on North Street on the first floor, on Saturdays between 10.30am and 4.30pm, and Sundays between 1.30pm and 4.30pm and see the exhibition free of charge.

On November 3, Nigel Gossop, will be holding a talk, ‘Unwrapping the Valerie Bacon Archive’, where he will explain how the museum acquired the diaries and letters, explaining more about her lifetime in Emsworth.

The doors will open at 7pm for a &.30pm start and tickets will cost £5 each and can be reserved by Bookends, 7 High Street, Emsworth.