IT’S not 1914 but in one Glasgow park visitors could be forgiven for their confusion.

Academics have transformed a section of Pollok Park into a wet and muddy landscape of shell holes, barbed wire and trenches to mark the centenary of World War I.

The soldiers, German and British, are volunteers who have dressed up for the day.

Barbed wire is made from rubber, the guns are deactivated and safe to use, and the trenches, although they are accurate down to the last detail, are a recreation.

The trenches have been built as a different way of telling the story of the war, a way to bring the history to life.

One of the project’s creators, the archaeologist and broadcaster Tony Pollard, says people experience a change of mindset when they visit.

Tony, who is professor of conflict history and archaeology at Glasgow University, came up with the idea for the project, known as Digging In, along with fellow archaeologist Dr Olivia Lelong.

Both of them know some of the reality of the trenches, having worked on the excavation of the mass graves at the site of the battle of Fromelles in France.

The Pollok Park project is telling the real-life stories of dead men, and giving an impression of what their lives were like and what they had to endure.

There are deep holes in the ground, dug by hand; the dark dug-outs; the filthy, basic latrine, and perhaps the most extraordinary aspect of all: the fact that the two frontlines, German and British, are just 30metres apart.

Tony talks about the superstition among the British that it was bad luck to take a third light off a match for your cigarette because of how close you were to the enemy.

Taking the third light gave the German snipers time to spot you and then that would be that.

Now thousands of schoolchildren have visited, and dozens of men and women have dressed up as soldiers and civilians.

But Tony says that at Fromelles he saw what hand grenades and machine guns do to the human body and so there is nothing to celebrate about the First World War.

He said: “The last thing we were after was the recreation of battles and suchlike."

Olivia added: “We are not trying to recreate the Western Front.

“Why would you want to do that? There is a line between good and bad taste that we are always careful not to cross.

"What we are trying to get across is that people were put in extreme circumstances and the people coming back were changed forever.”

Ian Shields, a 53-year-old artist and tour guide from the Borders, is the founder of the Scots in the Great War Living History Society and is dressed in the uniform of 6th Battalion Cameronians (Scottish Rifles) because that was the regiment of his great-uncle Willie.

Willie volunteered for action when he was 19 years old but was killed at the Battle of Givenchy in 1914.

One of the two volunteers dressed as a German, 33-year-old oil rig worker Alex Mallia, also has a personal connection – his great grandfather lost a leg at the Battle of Arras.

The uniform he is wearing is that of a German infantryman and is a mix of real and reproduction.

Most of the uniform is a copy, but the helmet is authentic as is the weapon: a 1915 Mauser armed with a bayonet.

Tony said he has no interest in the dressing-up side of things, but he does think it’s a vital part of the project, which aims to tell the stories not just of the soldiers but the women who nursed and drove ambulances, as well as the experiences of the people at home.

He said: “We have a nursing station when we have big events but we are also interested in the home front, where Scotland played a massive role through the munitions factory and shipyards and was the main supplier of sandbags.”

In fact, the sandbags used at Pollok Park are manufactured by the same Glasgow company that was set up to supply the Western Front in 1915: sack-maker J & HM Dickson Ltd.

The next big event at the Pollok Park trenches, which were built with sponsorship from Heritage Lottery Fund, the Covenant Fund and the Robertson Trust, is an open day on Sunday, February 25.

There are also plans for a film festival this year that will show First World War documentaries and movies as well as project newsreels on the walls of the trenches.

At one point, Tony thought interest in the centenary of the First World War would fizzle out, but the opposite has happened and he expects large audiences for the Digging In events.

Open days at Digging In are on February 25, March 18 and April 22.