Community Filmmaking: An Amazing Story of a Medal Returned – Linda Aston’s Story
Community filmmaking often brings unexpected stories to light—those quiet, deeply personal moments that might otherwise be lost to time.
In 2010, as part of the Witham Film & Animation Festival, I collaborated with filmmaker Oliver Smith to make My Barney, a short film about the people of Barnard Castle. This excerpt features a moving story from Linda Aston, a lifelong resident of the town, sharing a remarkable discovery connected to her father and the First World War.
The film was a whirlwind. We started filming at 8am and spent the day travelling the length of Barnard Castle, talking to residents, shopkeepers, and local craftspeople. By 3pm, we’d spoken to a newspaper printer, a tailor, a stage designer, a publican, a baker, a girl guide—and Linda. With help from Annalisa Ward, we edited the footage back at my studio in NeST and screened the finished film to a live audience that same evening. It was fast, raw, and full of heart. A true expression of what community filmmaking can be.
I was told about Linda’s story by one of her daughters and was kindly invited to film her at her flat. At 76 years old, Linda had lived in Barnard Castle her entire life. She welcomed us in and began telling the story of her father, W. Wain, who fought in the First World War. As a teenager, he played football for Barnard Castle before joining up at the age of 16—and was later sent to the Somme.
Years after his passing, a local man contacted Linda with an unexpected discovery: a First World War medal had been unearthed during pipe work by Northumbrian Water. The ground had been disturbed near their former home, and among the soil lay something remarkable—a medal bearing the name W. Wain. At first, it seemed too strange to believe. Could this be the same medal awarded to her father, missing for decades?
Engraved with his name and worn by time, the medal had likely lain beneath their old home since the mid-20th century. Linda recalled moving as a child:
“We moved from Startforth into Dawson Road in 1947. I was 13. I don’t ever remember my dad saying he’d lost a medal… So it must have been down there thirty years. Easy.”
The idea that something so personal could be buried and forgotten, only to return long after her father’s death, felt almost unreal. And it wasn’t a straightforward process. Linda had to navigate bureaucracy and prove her connection to the name etched on the medal. It took four months of persistence, letter writing, and phone calls before the authorities were convinced that the medal belonged to her family.
When it finally arrived, placed gently into her hands, the weight of it wasn’t just physical—it was emotional, historical, deeply personal.
“I just cried. Because I thought—blimey, this is my dad. This is history. And I looked at it and said, where have you been?”
That simple, human moment—of connection, of remembrance—is what community filmmaking is all about. It’s not about spectacle or cinematic gloss, but about honouring lives as they are lived. Capturing Linda’s story didn’t require elaborate setups or scripts. Just trust, time, and a willingness to listen.
We filmed quickly, but her story stayed with me. It reminded me that sometimes the most powerful narratives are hidden in everyday lives, waiting for the right moment—and the right questions—to emerge. Film, even in its simplest form, can be a bridge back to something lost. And when made collaboratively, with care and urgency, it can help return stories, just like medals, to where they belong.
A few years after filming this, I was contacted by a woman who told me she was one of Linda Aston’s daughters. Linda had recently passed away, and the family wondered if I could send them a copy of the footage. Of course, I agreed without hesitation. It was a privilege to be able to share that memory with them.
If you’d like to watch more of my work exploring community filmmaking, creative resilience, and diverse subjects across arts, heritage, and the environment, you can explore all my films here: https://alanfentiman.co.uk/films-by-alan-fentiman/
You can also browse more of my heritage-related films here: https://alanfentiman.co.uk/vimeo-videos/heritage-films/