NEW Forest singer songwriter Louise Jordan will give Lake District audiences a taste of a fascinating new project celebrating female heroes of the First World War this month.

Louise returns to Zeffirellis, Ambleside, on April 29 and The Mortal Man in Troutbeck on May 1.

Alongside material from her four recorded albums, the folk singer will be premiering some tracks from upcoming project ‘No Petticoats Here’.

Louise explained: “On on a visit to Ringwood Brewery in 2014 I discovered the story of New Forest smuggleress Lovey Warne.

“Determined to share Lovey’s remarkable story through music I wrote and recorded a song for her on my third album ‘Veritas’.

“Interest in Lovey Warne has inspired me to investigate more stories from my home counties of Hampshire and Wiltshire to share further afield through the folk song tradition.

“Since the summer of 2015 I have been uncovering the stories of extraordinary women and their remarkable achievements.

“During the early stages of my research I read that Dr Elsie Inglis, in her efforts to set up Scottish Women’s Hospitals during the Great War, was told to ‘go home and sit still; we don’t want any petticoats here’ by a Member of Parliament. ‘No Petticoats Here’ was born.”

These songs recognise Great War soldiers, women who risked their lives in No Man’s Land, inventors, engineers and women who made the weapons of war.

Louise will be touring ‘No Petticoats Here’ in October, but will be trying out several of the songs in the Lakes this month.

She said: “I take a lot of feedback from live performances so I’m really excited to sing these songs somewhere that I feel comfortable to see what people make of them.”

A truly independent musician, Louise continues to win support across the country with a stream of exceptional reviews and some national radio play to boot. Credited as writer, engineer and producer Louise also sings, plays guitar and piano.