Life in Wigton post-World War Two is now documented in detail in a new book about the town.

A two-year project, called Cumbria Speaks, was run by a group of volunteers who secured funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund.

The project was broken down into two parts, the first phase being the recording of more than 20 interviews of people living in Wigton and the second phase was children illustrating these recordings which was made into the book titled Stinging Nettles, Staking Clogs and other Wigton Stories.

Last month the public were given the chance, for the first time, to listen to these interviews and see the original drawings local school children had produced at the Market Hall with hundreds turning up.

It was hoped the interviews would chart the changes seen in the community and how different individuals have lived through them.

Project manager, Isanna Curwen, explained to The Cumberland News where the idea came from.

“I wanted to run a project that was community minded , I’ve always had an interest in rural communities and how they change,” she said.

“The town has really strong family connections with lots of memories. It’s life stories not just happy memories, we wanted them to tell us everything about the town.

“But without the help of the volunteers I couldn’t have done any of this.”

Pupils from Thomlinson Junior School and St Cuthbert’s Primary School illustrated the book.

Isanna added: “In schools you don’t learn about your own town so we went into schools where they could listen to stories about their own town.

“The drawings are all their own, they weren’t allowed to take them home and weren’t allowed any help from adults, we wanted it to be all their work.”

Since producing the book, it has been endorsed by Melvyn Bragg, David Almond - author of Skellig and Ross Welford - author of Time Travelling with a Hamster.

Following research and development, Cumbria Speaks would like to conduct a similar project in surrounding towns and villages.