In 2012 a group of young people came together to work on a project that investigated the local links to World War 1. As part of the project they were trained by television reporter Fiona Trott in interview techniques.
These skills were then used to interview characters from World War 1 including Lt. Colonel G. O. Spence a former mayor of Thornaby and commander of the 5th Battalion Durham Light Infantry. The mother of three Stockton soldiers killed in the war, Mrs Cummins is also interviewed as is Mary Jane Clinton who got an opportunity to work as a porter at Stockton Station because of the manpower shortage caused by the war. The characters are real but their words are an interpretation of what they may have felt based on the research carried out by the young people.
Their film can be viewed on YouTube... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vCoEUxzetNc
