Behind the Scenes: The Gallery and the Great War

Lovely trip to the archives of the National Portrait Gallery to look the material they have on the gallery during the First World War organised for friends of the gallery.

This event was made by the wonderful story telling of the lady who showed us around. I am so sorry I didn’t get her name. She’d picked fascinating documents from the archive then wove them together to tell us a story and paint a picture of some fascinating characters. She looked at the two directors of the gallery during the period but more interesting were the glimpses into the lives of the guards who became special constables for the duration of the war. You always think of war as a time of great events and grand behaviour but she included wonderful tales of catching a petty thief and of arguments between the guards and the typists of the government department that moved in. She was also good at answering questions and had researched what happened to the characters that she was talking about.

The event turned out to be an exclusive one for people who had been members for a long time and was followed by drinks in the restaurant. This gave a nice chance to talk to the membership team and to fellow friends.

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