Home Front in Penrith and Eden resource file
The Home Front in Penrith and Eden resource file
The Home Front in Penrith and Eden resource file has been put together to give you information specifically about this area during the Second World War and the important part that Eden played in the national and local picture. It includes some resource material for immediate use and a list of artefacts and archives available at the Museum for consultation or group handling sessions.
Though the information in the resource file is intended to support particularly the Primary History National Curriculum, anyone with an interest in the Second World War, or the local history of the Eden district, will find it of use.
Read the Home front in Penrith and Eden (PDF: 476Kb / 17 pages).
Eden's part in World War Two
Although Eden seemed geographically far from the action, it played an important part in the war, with top-secret developments in tank warfare at Lowther, soldiers being prepared for D-Day at Warcop, and the RAF practising overhead. Planes were stored at Hutton-in-the-Forest. There was a secret airfield at Whin Fell and Prisoner of War camps were located in the area, with the most notable one for German officers at Shap Wells Hotel. Rural Cumbria was an ideal place to send evacuees, such as those from the Newcastle Royal Grammar School, who were evacuated to Penrith. The Home Guard shared responsibility for Civil Defence along with the other Emergency Services. Everyone was expected to do their bit through make-do-and-mend, growing food, rationing and recycling.