By Mike Pryce

SPECIAL celebrations are to be held later this month to mark the centenary of one of Worcester’s best kept military secrets.

February marks 100 years since small arms ammunition production began at Government Cartridge Factory No 3 Blackpole, more commonly known locally as the old Cadbury’s Factory and now part of the Blackpole Trading Estate.

The facility produced ammunition for both the First and Second World Wars, although because of its hazardous output it never received the public profile of several other factories in the area which were engineering parts for military vehicles and aircraft.

Organised by the Worcestershire World War One Hundred programme, a Blackpole Munitions Factory 1917-2017 event will take place on Saturday, February 25 at The Hive history center, as part of Love Worcester Heritage Festival 2017. It will commemorate the centenary with a series of talks, launch of a new illustrated book on the history of the munitions factory and invite people to volunteer to work on a Worcester City Council project to survey the surviving buildings.

Production of ammunition began at Blackpole in February 1917, both of 7.62mm calibre for the Russians and .303 inch for the British Army. When production ceased in 1919, the factory had produced more than 200,000,000 cartridges. A high proportion of the workers were women and by training and good management, the Blackpole cartridges were of the highest quality, produced at an economical price.

The dark days of 1940, saw the factory requisitioned by the Churchill government to once more produce small arms ammunition in both .303 and 9mm calibres, again using a high proportion of women in its workforce. After the Second World War, Cadbury’s established its cake-making facility at Blackpole, but in 1974 the site and buildings were sold by Cadbury Schweppes.

The event on February 25 will see the launch of a new illustrated book on the history of the site, Blackpole Munitions Factory, Worcester, by the late Colin Jones and published by Logaston Press, priced at £10.

The day will also feature a series of short illustrated talks focused on the history of Munitions in Worcestershire, covering The First World War in Worcestershire by Adrian Gregson, The Rotherwas Munitions Factory at Hereford by Andy Johnson, The History of the Blackpole Factory by Aisling Nash, The Factory Today and the Recording Project by James Dinn.

To mark the centenary of the Blackpole factory, Worcester City Council is organising a survey of the surviving buildings. Volunteers are invited to get involved, be trained in rapid building surveying and gain an understanding of the munitions factory, its survival, development and later uses. Anyone interested in joining in can find out more by attending the event. The surveying project will run through until October 2017.

Andy Johnson of Logaston Press said: “Blackpole Munitions Factory was hugely significant both in Worcestershire and nationally. Of the four government cartridge factories operating in World War One, this is the only one where standing buildings survive and we look forward to sharing the history of the factory at this special commemorative event and book launch.”

Adrian Gregson, Worcestershire World War One Hundred, added: “As well as commemorating and remembering the history of the Blackpole Munitions Factory we hope the book and talks will inspire people to get involved in surveying the site themselves, understanding how it functioned and capturing the character and survival of the buildings. The project is a fantastic opportunity for interested people to be part of our centenary commemorations developing their skills and helping us to raise awareness of a WWI site of historical and archaeological interest.”

Blackpole Munitions Factory 1917- 2017 will begin at noon on Saturday, February 25 at The Hive as part of Love Worcester Heritage Festival 2017, a week-long celebration Worcestershire’s heritage. Refreshments will be served as part of the book launch. For further information on the Worcestershire World War One Hundred Programme, as well as full listings of events taking place visit: www.ww1worcestershire.co.uk or follow @WW1Worcs