Chaddesley Time Capsule

Chaddesley Time Capsule

On Monday the 4^th of October, Winterfold were delighted to take part in a commemorative event that took place in Chaddesley Corbett.

We had previously been approached by the Parish Council who has asked if we, along with Chaddesley Primary School, would like to create a time capsule to be buried under two trees that were to be planted to commemorate local war hero, Eric Carter, and Sir.Thomas Moore.

Eric sadly passed away over the summer, aged 101. He was a RAF fighter pilot who had flown both Spitfires and Hurricanes. He had been awarded the Artic Star Medal for his role in the defence of the Russian Port of Murmansk in 1941. Murmansk was the Soviet Union’s only gateway to the Atlantic. Many historians believe that had the port fallen to the Nazis, the outcome of the war could have been very different. Eric was not only involved in the physical defence of Murmansk, but also training Soviet fighters to fly Hurricane fighter planes.

The task of deciding what should go in our time capsule fell to our OWLS. Over two weeks, the children developed their ideas and the best (and most practical) of these were chosen to make the final cut.

The time capsule itself was kindly donated to us by Chaddesley Parish Council. Being only 10.8 inches in length, we had to be quite selective as to what went in! The following is a list of the items that we did managed to squeeze inside – it did seem to become quite Tardis-like:

Time Capsule Contents:  Friday the 1^st of October 2021

1. Letters from children in years 6 to 8 at Winterfold House School, addressed to ‘Dear Future Human’.
2. A model kit of a Spitfire. This is the plane that Eric Carter flew during World War Two.
3. A written profile of the Spitfire, and the current equivalent fighter plane, the Eurofighter so that future generations can see the developments over Eric’s lifetime.
4. A picture of Queen Elizabeth II from 2021.
5. A memory stick detailing the components and functionality of a current computer.
6. A lateral flow test, face-mask and memory stick containing a documentary created by two year six boys (Arun Nandra and Ollie Hudderston) which explains details about the recent Covid 19 Pandemic.
7. A pen from Harvington Hall, because perhaps pens won’t be used in the future.
8. Some articles from a science journal detailing some current cutting-edge scientific research and developments.
9. Some information about Hedgehogs. These have reduced in numbers dramatically in recent years – we hope they are still around when the time capsule is opened.
10. A list of the top 10 boys and girls names in 2021
11. Some articles from the Winterfold School Magazine
12. Topical newspaper cuttings from 2021
13. A copy of a book of short stories written by Winterfold pupils in 2021

The capsules were buries under the two commemorative trees behind the bus stop on Brier Hill, at the north end of Chaddesley. Winterfold was represented by our Head Girl and two deputies, namely Matilda Neal, Frances Ginns and Harry Phipps. Matilda wowed the thirty or so attendees at the ceremony with a short speech that included the list of items contained in the capsule, and both Frances and Harry helped to plant the trees.

It was a wonderful experience to be involved in such a project, and we were very lucky to be asked to participate.[metaslider id=21333][metaslider id=21333]