The Northern Convoys International Centre received a scrapbook with paintings by schoolchildren from Scotland

A remarkable scrapbook from Scotland detailing the creative process of creating the mosaic panels for the "Wartime Trail Around Loch Ewe" has been received by the International Centre. "The Wartime Trail" is a project of the Scottish charitable organisation The Russian Arctic Convoy Project, and is an open-air trail dedicated to the Northern (Arctic) Convoys and the role of the area and people of Loch Ewe in them. The trail was opened on 31 August 2021 - the 80th anniversary of the arrival of the first convoy “Dervish” in Arkhangelsk.

The mosaic panels created by pupils from three schools in different locations around Loch Ewe are part of “The Wartime Trail”. Each of the panels describes a certain aspect of the Northern Convoys: setting off from Loch Ewe, the convoy under attack, the Arctic with ice, northern lights and polar bears. The scrapbook, kindly provided to us by the Russian Arctic Convoys Project, details the process of creating the mosaics, starting from photos, paintings and historical facts that inspired the schoolchildren in their work, drawings and sketches of the children that formed the basis of the panels, and ending with photographs of the students themselves and their creative supervisors.

We are sure that the scrapbook will become an important and interesting part of the temporary exhibitions of the International Centre and the future Memorial Museum, illustrating the preservation of the memory of the Northern Convoys in the creative work of new generations.

International Centre expresses sincere gratitude to Russian Arctic Convoys Project for sending us this scrapbook, as well as to the Consulate General of Russia in Edinburgh and personally Maxim Gurov for assistance in its shipment!