Cynthia Brown
Vaughan College, University of Leicester, St Nicholas Circle, Leicester, LE1 4LB
Telno:
Email: cib2@le.ac.uk

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Christina Raven-Conn
Team Librarian
Local Studies Library, Nottingham Central Library, Angel Row, Nottingham NG1 6HP
Telno: 0115 9152873
Email: Christina.Raven-Conn@nottinghamcity.gov.uk

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Derbyshire

A new project, ‘Living Normanton – the Journeys of our Faith communities over the Last Century’, aims to ‘document the experiences of people of different faiths as they came to Normanton and began to establish their faith communities in the area. It is a joint project between English Heritage and the Forum of Faiths for Derby. It will record and share these experiences, though the format in which these will be published will be decided in consultation with the participant groups. Interviews will be conducted with both groups and individuals from a diverse range of faith communities. The interviewers will be local people who have previously worked as community researchers for the Forum of Faiths for Derby and will learn new skills during this project.
Community historians visited groups based at faith venues in order to facilitate and record reminiscence discussions, and individuals were then invited to participate in more in-depth interviews. Segments from these interviews were displayed or played at Heritage Open Days events as part of the Normanton faith trail. This is the first phase in what is intended to be a longer-term project, with the phase one output presented at Heritage Open Days 2009.
A second project, ‘Derwent Valley Threads’, is based on the Derwent Valley Mills World Heritage Site (DVMWHS), inscribed as such by UNESCO in 2001 as a place of ‘Outstanding Universal Value to Humanity’. It aims to capture the memories of people who used to work at the textile mills between Masson Mill in Matlock Bath and the Silk Mill in Derby, or who lived nearby. The site contains a mix of mill complexes, the watercourses that powered them, and the settlements developed for the workers, but as the project summary notes: ‘Most of the Mills closed in the 1980s, so the mill workers are now all ageing and are therefore an “at risk” resource. There has, as yet, only been limited work done to preserve the memories and stories of the area. The two year project will tackle this in new and innovative ways, developing artist-led inter-generational work that will enable artists and young people from the area to work with older people in preserving the stories on the web, rather than in a printed publication.’
The project plans to train young people in interview techniques, oral history and reminiscence work, and to provide workshops for all ages in writing for the web and meeting the technical requirements of the artsderbyshire website on which the memories will be published alongside sound, art work and photographs. It is hoped that the project will also encourage more people to visit the Derwent Valley Mills World Heritage Site and learn more about it.
‘Derwent Valley Threads’ is being organised by a partnership, working together as Derwent Valley Arts, which includes arts officers from Derbyshire County Council, Derby City Council Arts and Derbyshire Dales District Council; the DVMWHS Coordinator; representatives from Amber Valley Borough Council & Derbyshire Dales District Council; and local independent arts development organisations including Fleet Arts and QUAD. Fleet Arts is managing the project, which is funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund, Derbyshire County Council, Derby City Council and the Derwent Valley Mills WHS Partnership.

Cynthia Brown

Leicestershire & Rutland

The East Midlands Oral History Archive (EMOHA) held a one day event, 'Using Oral History', on 12 June 2009, with support from the Centre for Urban History at the University of Leicester. Speakers covered subjects such as regional dialect, creating audio tours, using oral history recordings at Southwell Workhouse, Nottinghamshire, the Northampton Black History Association, and the Japanese 'Genki' reminiscence project. A summary of the day can be found at http://www.le.ac.uk/emoha/news/ohday.html. Feedback from participants was very positive and planning has already started another event next year.
EMOHA has now digitised Market Harborough Museum's oral history collection, which is available to the public now that the Museum has re-opened after a major refurbishment. The Museum's oral history collection was created in the 1980s and contains around 200 interviews, making it one of the largest collections in Leicestershire. Among the many subjects, interviews in the collection cover Welland Valley agriculture, domestic service, life in Market Harborough's courtyard 'slums' in the 1920s, shops and shopping, and experiences of World War One and World War Two.
The 'Mines of Memory' project, which interviewed former coal miners in North West Leicestershire, has come to an end. A CD of extracts from the interviews has been compiled and the material gathered during the project has been added to the extensive collection of mining information held at Snibston Discovery Park, Coalville.
The ‘Legacy of Partition’ project co-ordinated by the Record Office for Leicestershire, Leicester & Rutland (ROLLR) has also been completed, and some of the interviews conducted for it are now available on the ROLLR website at this link, along with educational materials and other resources.
Memories of being Jewish in Leicester in the 1940s and 50s have been brought together in a book, website and touring display in a project funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund and managed by Writing School Leicester. Rosalind Adam and Miriam Halahmy initially ran a series of writing workshops, and training in oral history was provided by Colin Hyde of the East Midlands Oral History Archive as the project progressed. Seventy people ultimately contributed spoken or written memories, many of whom first came to Leicester during the Second World War.
One recalled that: ‘My first memory of Leicester was steaming into Leicester station from London to escape the buzz-bombs and breathing in the peace of the place. It was a fluke that I came here. My husband was in the army in Palestine when the buzz-bombs came over so I sent a telegram to my sister in Leicester and said “Can you put me up for a few weeks?”. It was only temporary – I’m still here!’ Another recalled that ‘In each of the schools I attended I was one of a very small group of Jewish children… I was expected to be very knowledgeable and to be able to answer everyone’s questions about Judaism. I wasn’t very knowledgeable and I often didn’t know the answers.’ For another ‘though I was born and bred in London and I loved London, I had the happiest time of my life in Leicester because first of all there weren’t many Jewish girls so I was sought after’. For details see www.leicesterjewishvoices.co.uk/index.html.

Cynthia Brown

Lincolnshire

Colin Hyde at EMOHA reports that the Society for Lincolnshire History and Archaeology (SLHA) has produced a CD of Tennyson's poems in Lincolnshire dialect. This is a digitally re-mastered version of long-playing records (LPs) produced 40 years ago, and can be bought from the SLHA at Jew's Court, Steep Hill, Lincoln LN2 1LS for £9.00 each inc. p&p. The SLHA website is at http://www.lincolnshirepast.org.uk/pmwiki/pmwiki.php.

Cynthia Brown

Northamptonshire

Northamptonshire Black History Association (NBHA) reports that one of its members, George Watley, is currently interviewing people as part of the three year project researching the consumer behaviour of Northamptonshire Caribbean people c.1955-1980. Presentations of initial research findings have been made within the last few months to local and regional audiences, including the East Midlands Oral History Archive (EMOHA) and the Historical Association of Northamptonshire. A travelling roadshow is planned for the future, and it is also hoped to present the research to international audiences in Barbados, the Czech Republic and the United States.

Cynthia Brown

Nottinghamshire

The Local Studies section of Nottingham Central Library continues to support local projects, with advice to individuals and groups. We are also happy to have copies of oral history from projects for archiving and copies for the library’s collection where possible. At a different level, advice has been provided to local history and community groups in Nottingham seeking funding to record various aspects of their local communities. Some have needed guidance on compiling their bids: what to include, for instance. They have also needed the support of the library as a place willing to archive material for them.
Currently, we have a new oral history project in progress, which the library is leading on, ‘The Italian Connection: a story of identity and integration in post (Second World) War Nottingham’. It is funded by Nottingham City Council and Big Lottery funds and supported by the Museums, Libraries & Archives Council (MLA) through ‘Their Past Your Future’ phase 2. There are strong Italian links to Nottingham over many years, including the existence of an Italian Prisoner of War camp during the Second World War. The difficult economic conditions in Italy, which followed this war, led many people in the 1950s and later to seek a better life in Nottingham. Their story is not well documented and this project will establish a record of their experiences through engagement with senior members of the community and their families. Oral history recordings will be made, facilitated by staff and volunteers. The focus of the project will be on the social challenges and opportunities that can arise out of a period of world-wide conflict. It will offer an Italian perspective of post-war England. There will be a strong inter-generational element to the project, working closely with 2 local schools (Year 5 pupils) to create a publication, toolkit and resource pack along with web-based resources, based on the oral history recordings.
The project is being delivered through a partnership of Library staff, the City Regional and International team, two Italian organizations (the Basilicata region Association in Nottingham and ACLI Patronato) and the EIP (Education Improvement Partnership) Manager for St. Ann’s and Sneinton. We have volunteers from within and outside the Italian community through whom we aim to reach a significant number of people within the relevant age groups and to complete what we realise is an intensive programme of work. In this, members of the Italian community, several of whom we have consulted, are already playing an important role.
Two more projects currently in progress by local groups are ‘Old Gardeners’ Tales’ and ‘Nottingham’s Rainbow Heritage’. ‘Old Gardeners’ Tales’ is organised by St Ann’s Allotments (or Hungerhill Gardens as they are sometimes known), the most ancient of Nottingham's allotments sites. Established around 1835, they are probably the oldest and largest in Europe. Their unique history and heritage has been recognised and it is a Grade 2* listed site. The 70 acre site has 670 plots, based on original layouts.
The project is working to preserve the heritage of the site, and includes an oral history project to capture the stories of current and past allotment holders and other local people. They have just recruited a team of volunteers to help with this work, and developed themes to explore with those we interview. They have found a man who has raised pigeons for 40 years, someone who used to live on the allotments, and a woman who has built a glasshouse out of recycled bottles. The project is running until 2013, and it is hoped to use this information to provide a human story to the historical landscape. For more information contact Mo Cooper 0115 911 0207, mo_heritage@staa-allotments.org.uk.
‘Nottinghamshire’s Rainbow Heritage’ is sponsored by the Heritage Lottery Fund. It started in January 2008 and will run for at least three years. It celebrates Nottinghamshire’s Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) lives, hidden history and culture. Part of the project includes interviewing local people about their experiences and opinions on all things LGBT. This may include clubs, parenting, bullying, crime, civil partnerships, work, and school. For more information contact Nottingham Lesbian and Gay Switchboard Tel 0115 934 9529, or e-mail nottsrh@hotmail.co.uk.

Christina Raven-Conn

Legacies: Auto/Biography Summer Conference

Venue: University of Leicester
Starts on: 8th July 2010, Finishes on: 10th July 2010

The British Sociological Association Auto/Biography Study Group invites contributions to its XIXth Auto/Biography Summer Conference, which will be held from Thursday, 8 July, 2010, to Saturday, 10 July, 2010, at the University of Leicester. The theme of the conference is "Legacies"; contributors are encouraged to interpret the theme broadly.

Please send abstracts of about 150 words to Gill Clarke, School of Education, University of Southampton, Southampton SO 17 1BJ, UK, or gmc@soton.ac.uk

Deadline for receipt of abstracts: 1 March.

The Phil Salmon Memorial Lecture at the conference will be presented by Gayle Letherby, of the School of Applied Psychosocial Sciences, University of Plymouth, on the topic "Auto/Biographical Reflections on Personal and Other Legacies: Much More than Money."

The conference fee, which will include accommodation and all meals, is expected to be about £250.

For more information, contact Gill Clarke at gmc@soton.ac.uk

More information can be found at this link here.
Telephone:
Email: gmc@soton.ac.uk

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