Tudhoe & Spennymoor Local History Society
On 23rd October 2021 a Blue Plaque was unveiled at 30 Clyde Terrace, Spennymoor, the birthplace of the Great War nurse, Sister Kate Maxey, by her great niece Elizabeth Varley.
Sister Maxey's decorations were the Military Medal, the Royal Red Cross (1st class) and the Florence Nightingale Medal.
Our film about medical services on the Western Front and the contribution of Spennymoor people to them is now free to view on YouTube under a creative commons licence.
View the Behind the Lines film on YouTube.
Click to view photos of the Behind the Lines Film Premiere (3.56MB pdf).
SISTER KATE MAXEY IN OUR FILM
In May 1920 Sister Kate Maxey, a shopkeeper’s daughter from Spennymoor, was honoured as one of the first recipients of the International Red Cross’s Florence Nightingale Medal. She had served in casualty clearing stations and hospitals behind the Western Front for three and a half years before being wounded in a German air raid. To celebrate Sister Maxey’s service, and that of others from the town involved in medical services on the Western Front, Tudhoe & Spennymoor Local History Society, with the support of a £10,000 National Lottery Grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund, commissioned Lonely Tower Film and Media to make this film. The Society is deeply indebted to Kate Maxey’s family, who have made photographs and other records available, and to the many other people involved in the project for their support, including Spennymoor Town Council and Spennymoor Town Band.
We see the film both as a commemoration of the 100 years since the end of the Great War and an insight into how communities were involved in medical services at the beginning of the twentieth century. It was most appropriate that the film first showing was at Spennymoor Town Hall, which, then a new building, saw many of the local events associated with the war, particularly fund-raising events for those serving and celebrations of homecomings and medals won.
Film was in its infancy when the events celebrated in Behind the Lines took place; but our forebears had plenty of opportunities in the town to see films and, we hope, would have appreciated the expertise and perseverance which Lonely Tower Film & Media have brought to this project. Mark and Marie said that the Kate Maxey story we put on the Durham at War website was “film worthy” and we hope that you, our viewers, agree.
As part of the project we are providing resources free to schools and local history societies.
Further information and pdfs are available from the Durham At War website:
Please email any feedback relating to the film to TSLHS (tslhs@btinternet.com).
Click on the links for further details of Behind the Lines.
Behind the Lines Film Credits (8.4Mb pdf)
Behind the Lines Welcome Home (3.3Mb pdf)
Behind the Lines Peace (3.5Mb pdf)
Click on the links for details of progress when making Behind the Lines.
Behind the Lines Film Commissioned Sep 2017 (214k pdf)