WARTIME memories of the Canadian Camp Erie at Headley Down are being sought as part of a new lottery-funded heritage project.

Having secured a grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund, the Headley Down Nature Reserve Trust has issued a call to arms for local people to help by passing on their memories of Camp Erie - one of four Canadian camps locally each named after one of the Canadian Great Lakes - as well as the post-war occupation of the huts the Canadian troops left behind, and the days of the rubbish tip before the Heatherlands Estate was built.

Reminiscences of how the area used to be will inform the trust’s new project ‘From War to Wildlife: The History of the Headley Down Nature Reserve and the Heatherlands Estate’.

The project will also have an international flavour, thanks to the involvement of the descendants of the Royal Canadian Engineers, who have contributed photographs of the construction of the camp in 1941. These will go on display at oral history workshops at Woodlands Hall, where residents can add their own images and share their memories.

Young people aged from pre-school to cadets will help with the project, and the information gathered will be combined with research from various archives to produce illustrated information boards. These will be erected in the nature reserve, together with a commemorative bench and maple tree. Portable touring exhibition panels are also planned.

The launch is set for the summer of 2019, giving the trust the opportunity to invite the Canadians to come over for a community tea party with a wartime flavour.

The trust became a registered charity in 2016. Since then, it has worked to change the formerly neglected site, subject to fly-tipping and littering, into somewhere the whole community can enjoy.

Trust chairman Angela Jackson, said: “This new heritage project will involve all ages, bringing the community together and adding a further dimension to the nature reserve for visitors.”

• To share memories or photos call 07501872020 or email [email protected]. For more details visit www.headleydownnaturereserve.org.uk .