Youth theatre brings history to life at Wolverhampton's Bantock House this weekend

It is part of a year-long, large scale Heritage Lottery Funded Project called Patch to Plate, which aims to trace the history of the Merridale and Bantock areas of the city, exploring its development from open land and farms to houses and the local community's relationship with food and its production.

This weekend 15 members of the Central Youth Theatre are staging the second of three open-air productions that are running over the year in the gardens of Bantock House. The show entitled Summers of Old is being staged today and tomorrow at 2pm and tickets can be purchased on the day.

Summers of Old is set in 1939 and tells the story of Sarah Thomas. Sarah starts work at Bantock House and she befriends the cantankerous gardener Alfred. With the outbreak of the Second World War; the grounds are turned into allotments and the local residents throw themselves into the 'Dig for Victory' campaign.

Sarah and Alfred despair of ever getting anything done with constant interruptions and bickering amongst the allotment holders and visits from a mysterious vegetable thief.

The story is based partly on historical research with a fictional storyline, and has been written for the youth theatre by local writer and former youth theatre member Laura Sambrooks, who penned the youth theatre's award winning film script After Dawn, which recently won the Outstanding Achievement Award at the 2015 Digi Awards.

Throughout the weekend the performances are accompanied by an exhibition in the Tractor Shed at Bantock House that will continue to grow in size as the seasons pass and more materials are gathered together.