Devil's Porridge Exhibition

The group aims to promote awareness of the history of the Eastriggs and Gretna townships, and their importance with the 1st world war munitions factory HM Factory Gretna in turning the tide of war in the allies' favour.

It also carries exhibitions on other important events with a local dimension in the WW1-WW2 period. The collection contains a variety of items from the factory itself as well as various pieces; military and domestic from the WW1-WW2 period, and a wealth of photos from the local area during this period.

An amazing exhibition tells the story of the greatest munitions factory on earth. In 1915, Britain was losing the war through lack of ammunition until 30,000 women and men came from all over the world to work in the massive factory on the Solway. When Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, creator of Sherlock Holmes, visited HM Factory Gretna in 1918, he described the explosive paste which was mixed by hand as the Devil’s Porridge.