“On Tuesday  10th March, the iconic recently refurbished Stable block in Sion Mills, played host to over 100 school children from Sion Mills integrated primary School.  The pupils were shown around museum and given time to immerse themselves in the exhibits in display learning about Herdman’s mill, as well as glimpses into the life of the Villagers, the Herdman family themselves and the how Mill life was radically different to the life they lead today.

A topical area of the display deals with the life of Lt. Col. Ambrose St. Quentin Ricardo who married into the Herdman family during the late 19th century. Ricardo went on to help establish the first Derry Feis, became chief scout, and raised a Battalion for the British army who then went on to fight on the Western Front in the first world war.

Following on from this, the pupils were then taken into the new state of the art conference/ education suite where Adrian Beattie from Strabane District Council’s Museum Service brought the children face to face with a collection of genuine first world war artefacts, as well as “Geldoff the rat”.

“ This was a wonderful opportunity to work with the children in a stunning historical setting, that is so synonymous with the village of Sion, and allows the Council to allow the community greater access to our collections” said Mr Beattie.