Padmini Broomfield
Oral Historian
Hampshire
Telno: 07891 077856
Email: padmini@ohs.org.uk

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Manda Gifford
Outreach Officer, Coastal Museums
c/o Whitstable Museum and Gallery, Oxford Street, Whitstable CT5 8DB
Telno: 01227 772379
Email: Manda.gifford@canterbury.gov.uk

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Jocelyn Goddard
41 Linden Avenue, Whitstable, Kent, CT5 1RX
Telno: 07872 622102
Email: jehgoddard@yahoo.co.uk

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Sheila Jemima
Southampton
Telno: 023 80 553680
Email: jemimasheila@googlemail.com

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Roger Kitchen
3 Stacey Avenue, Wolverton, Milton Keynes, MK12 5DN
Telno: 01908 313514
Email: rogerfkitchen@gmail.com

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David Lee
Film & Sound Archivist
Wessex Film and Sound Archive, Hampshire Record Office, Sussex Street, Winchester. SO23 8TH
Telno: 01962 847742
Email: david.lee@hants.gov.uk

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Janet Nixon
Learning Officer (Archives)
Surrey Heritage, Surrey History Centre, 130 Goldsworth Road, Woking, Surrey, GU21 6ND
Telno: 01483 518746
Email: janet.nixon@surreycc.gov.uk

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Jo Palache
Freelance Oral Historian
Brighton
Telno: 01273 565882
Email: jo.palache@btinternet.com

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Hampshire

Another interesting and busy year in Hampshire.  There have been a number of notable projects during the year which I know about, including the following:-

Treloar 100+ was led by Hampshire Archives and Local Studies (HALS) and Museums and Arts, is a new project in which archivists worked with students from Treloar College at Alton to explore their archives, held at Hampshire Record Office, using a recently-developed methodology called Revisiting Collections. The archives, including an extensive range of evocative photographs and film, date back to the early days of Treloar Hospital’s foundation at the beginning of the 20th century, by philanthropist, Sir William Treloar, Lord Mayor of London, who was moved by the plight of children afflicted with non-pulmonary tuberculosis. The foundation gave rise to the College and School and although the hospital closed in the 1990s, the educational establishments and the Treloar Trust are flourishing and vibrant organisations. Revisiting Collections is a new approach to engaging communities in the interpretation of their archives. By enabling the exploration and capture of additional information, memories, and meaning, the methodology both enhances the existing archive and contributes to a reinterpretation of the story of disability. Part of the project involved oral history interviews with former staff and pupils providing, for the first time, a glimpse into the life of the College and School in the past. One of the recordings is memorable for the achingly sad revelation that friendships, especially close ones, could be ended traumatically by premature death caused by the severe conditions endured by some of the pupils, and this could happen several times a year (still does).

Living Links community project for Hampshire and the Isle of Wight has come to an end after three years, but will continue in spirit, as the work is supported by HALS, albeit at a lower level. One of the highlights of the past year was a film project undertaken with the Edge youth group in Gosport. This  focussed on the differences between leisure and social activities in the period since World War Two. Cass Productions were employed to work with the group and an introductory session followed by two full days of filming took place in late 2010. The content of the film focussed on interviews with people who grew up in Gosport in different generations, and provided a fascinating account of their experiences and expectations. Oral history recording equipment is now available for groups to use and add to the community project legacy.

Past Matters is one of the projects taking advantage of this. Organised by Winchester Action on Climate Change, the project has been working with people in Sutton Scotney, South Wonston and Weeke communities near Winchester to look at how people in the past lived in relation to their homes, their food and their transport - areas of life that we now relate to climate change. Oral history was used to learn from people’s stories of the past and explore ways we might use them to change our approach to life in the future.

Spitfire Lives was an exhibition commemorating the part played by that aircraft, which was developed at Eastleigh in the 1930s, in the Second World War. Two important oral history interviews were recorded with former pilot Dennis Bray and ground crew member Norman Parker, describing their part in this development and its importance to the local area.

‘Can You See Me Tommy?’ is a documentary film shown at the Portsmouth Film Festival which includes interviews with local people involved in the making of the rock opera film ‘Tommy’. They largely featured as extras in the film, based in part at a number of locations in Portsmouth and Southsea, including South Parade Pier. Notoriously, this burnt down during filming and was blamed on its director Ken Russell who, coming from rival city Southampton, was roundly condemned for destroying the pier on purpose!

The recordings mentioned above and, importantly, the original interviews are now held at Wessex Film and Sound Archive.

Finally, the Archive held its last Oral History Seminar in October 2010.  It was attended by 32 people from all over the south of England. Padmini Broomfield, Winchester oral historian and member of the Oral History Society Committee, gave the opening presentation on the subject of good practice and projects. Nick Hayes of Inquit Audio followed, talking about and showing examples of recording equipment and how best to use it, assisted by WFSA Manager on the subject of using video equipment. In the afternoon, Noelle McCormack from Brighton showed how the Life History approach can be used with disabled people and their carers, in particular the mother of a disabled daughter who worked with Noelle to produce a very moving DVD – shown at the Seminar – through the medium of dance. Lastly, Alan Williams, curator of the Balfour Museum of Red Cross History at Winchester, took us through the training and experiences of his volunteers engaged in an oral history project, including preparing for emotional interviews with former refugees and POWs. I have decided to make this the last Seminar because of a number of factors, including local authority cutbacks, the relatively small number of attendees, and the feeling that hands-on practical oral history training is more important these days. To that end, I have offered our Cinema and Education Work Room as a venue for OHS training days in future. We have good audio-visual facilities, equipment, local knowledge and skills which I hope can be put to good use by the Society.
(David Lee)

Hampshire

Over the past year I have received several inquiries from across the south east region for advice on setting up HLF funded projects. I also received inquiries from as far afield as Northern Ireland and the USA suggesting that the OHS website is attracting hits from people seeking information and advice on oral history. An update on some of the projects for which I provided advice and training:

This is my home now, an HLF funded project, recorded the stories of people who had arrived in the UK seeking refuge and are now settled in the Southampton area. 25 individuals aged between 20 and 90 who had fled conflict and persecution in their own home countries such as Azerbaijan, Chile, Iraq, Vietnam or Zimbabwe among others, were interviewed by project workers and volunteers. The project culminated in the launch, during Refugee Week June 2011, of an excellent book, exhibition and website (www.myhomenow.org). The book featuring stunning photographs by a local photographer is on sale on the website. The exhibition, which includes a ‘Talking Globe’ with sound extracts, is currently on display in Southampton and will tour various museum venues in Hampshire during 2012.

St James Park – Shirley Heritage Project, has been collecting memories of the local park which is being transformed in an HLF funded regeneration project. The oral testimony has inspired and formed the basis for two arts based projects. An intergenerational project, ‘Art for the Park’, involved pupils from a local secondary school who were given training in interviewing two older people. This was followed by art and photography workshops to develop the designs for a Zip Wire Wall Mural. Interwoven into the design are silhouettes that reflect stories told by older people about how the park has been used over time. A former Air Raid Precaution building was renovated and converted into a cafe. A local artist used oral testimony as her inspiration to design a frieze of images for the cafe windows. Project Manager, Michaela Lawler-Levene presented a paper on this project at the 2010 OHS annual conference in Sunderland. (http://www.fosjp.org.uk/history_shirley.html#oral_history) )

Showpeople of Hampshire: The Hampshire Archives Trust has received funding from the HLF to capture and preserve important aspects of Hampshire showpeople’s heritage. Volunteers received training to carry out 15 interviews with older/retired showpeople, 10 with working showpeople and 5 with fairground enthusiasts. An extensive private collection of fairground photographs has been catalogued and packaged for future preservation. Project Manager Jo Ivey reports on recent activities with two local schools: “Two schools have allowed us to give children from the showpeople community a Flip camera to take away with them when they travel with their families. The idea is to record their daily lives on the showground and compare this with life at school. A Big Build Day got school children building all sorts of rides.” A local film maker will compile contemporary filmed footage with archival footage and stills as well as photographs taken by the children.
(Padmini Broomfield)

Kent

Canterbury Museums Service

The coastal museums continue to use oral history as a regular component in gallery exhibitions and hope to expand this into the permanent displays. Recent gallery examples include Toytown at Whitstable Museum (based around key memories, images and loans of favourite toys) and Not the End of the Pier Show at Herne Bay Museum(celebrating people and events on and around the Pier). These exhibitions continue to be the outcome of strong partnerships with local memories groups initiated and facilitated by the museum service.

Care staff based at Rye participated in a reminiscence facilitation workshop, facilitated by Canterbury Museums Service, exploring work with images and objects.

The Ash Heritage Group has purchased, with grant money, a digital recorder and other equipment for carrying out oral history interviews. Currently, these are focussing on local memories of the Second World War. The recordings will be held at the Heritage Centre which has been built by the Heritage Group, and which will be formally opened in September.

Jocelyn’s news

Jocelyn has been acting as a mentor for Heritage Lottery Fund’s London team, spending a few days with successful grantees to enable them to make the best use of their project resources. She acts as another link between HLF and OHS, building on the training the groups receive and encouraging best practice. In the last year she has contributed to the development phase of some large grants (Heritage Grants), between successful Round One and Round Two applications. Here are two examples:

The Alliance for Inclusive Education (ALLFIE)’s What Did You Learn At School Today? project. This has a focus on disabled people’s experience of education over the last 100 years, through the telling and recording of personal memories and histories of school. The collection, designed and delivered by disabled people, will become a public archive and will also be a practical tool for schools, colleges and other education providers to bring to life debates on citizenship, equality and diversity.
www.allfie.org.uk

The African Heritage and Educational Centre is working on The Past. This project aims to collect and collate the memories and experiences of Ghanaian, Nigerian and Caribbean people who have lived and worked in the three boroughs of Waltham Forest, Hackney and Newham. There is a special emphasis on the cluster of industries dotted in and around the Olympic village. The project will run until June 2013, with the highlight being an exhibition during the 2012 London Olympic Games.
http://www.ahec.org.uk/thepastproject.htm

Some of the community groups Jocelyn works with are new to oral history and to HLF. Their projects are smaller (within the Your Heritage strand). An example of this is the Greenwich Nepalese Integration Project run by the Community Empowerment and Support Initiative. This project aims to document and disseminate the history of Gurkha participation in the British Army, their cultures and traditions, through oral history recordings, research, film and photographs.
http://cesi-uk.org/programmes.html

Kent and Medway news (from the Web)

In our Memories: Milton Creek

Milton Creek’s industrial past is being brought to life through a community history, arts and education project. As part of the continuing regeneration of the creek near Sittingbourne, In our Memories: Milton Creek aims to ensure that, as the area changes through regeneration, its role is remembered and celebrated. Supported by the Heritage Lottery Fund, work has begun with an oral history project, gathering together the stories of people who remember the industries – barge building, brick making, paper mills and cement works. These recordings will then form the foundation of an oral history archive.
www.miltoncreekmemories.co.uk

Medway on Screen Project

Medway on Screen was a community history project run by Screen Archive South East, supported by the Heritage Lottery Fund. The project ran for a year, concluding in spring 201. It drew on unique films from the archive, exploring the social and industrial history of the Medway and West Kent in the 20th century. The project used these archive films as a catalyst to discover, share and celebrate the many different voices, memories and histories related to the River Medway and the towns and villages it passes through. Community events were organised throughout 2010/11 in Maidstone, Rochester and Tonbridge. The project worked with participants to gather and preserve individual memories, historical information, oral history interviews and related historical materials uncovered by the people of Medway. An interactive Medway on Screen website was developed as part of the project and this provides an opportunity to view the films and share memories of the Medway and West Kent.
www.brighton.ac.uk/screenarchive

The Town Unearthed

A project exploring Folkestone's pre-1500 past is to launch a new phase exploring the area's oral history. The Town Unearthed project is looking for people to tell stories handed down from parents to children, or told to those new to the area. In February 2011 a shop in Tontine Street was opened to display artefacts from a newly excavated Roman villa site. Over 300 bags of artefacts have so far been removed from the villa on the cliffs above Folkestone. Lynda Pearce of the community archives and heritage group said: "What we are embarking on could be termed the archaeology of the mind because we want people to dig into their memories of things they were told."
www.atownunearthed.co.uk

Looking forward in Kent

Jocelyn and Manda would be interested to hear whether there is sufficient interest to revive the Kent Oral History Discussion network (KOHD). Initially this could be in the form of e-mail information sharing, with the option to have a get-together in East Kent in the spring, perhaps with a speaker (eg to deliver a technology update). Please send any expressions of interest in the network and/or the get-together to:
jehgoddard@yahoo.co.uk and/ormanda.gifford@canterbury.gov.uk
(Jocelyn Goddard & Manda Gifford)

Surrey

It's been a quiet year in Surrey for oral history recording, but there's a lot of interest in developing and seeking funding for projects covering a very varied range of topics from mental health to young men in the Asian community to people who worked in the engineering industry.

There has been some one off recording including an interesting interview with Austen Playfoot who was one of the torch bearers on the 1948 Olympic torch route. This interview has filled in missing detail for the archive record and given a glimpse in to the life of the amateur runner on national service in post war Britain.

Rib Davis has been working with Walton Charity (for their 800th Anniversary) and Walton Oak School on oral history leading to a play about the town of Walton-on-Thames within living memory, which will be performed by the children in the autumn.

Mental Health continues to attract strong interest for oral history recording. A series of interviews is scheduled for Autumn 2011 with ex-patients of Netherne Hospital in Coulsdon and Brookwood in Woking.  Whilst another project is currently being developed to record the life stories and experiences of ex-patients from nearly all of Surrey's many mental health hospitals.

Plans are being made by The Spike in Guildford to record the memories of current and now retired staff who were in the middle of a major reorganisation of local hospitals in the 1980s. The interviews will form part of research and a resulting exhibition tracing the change of use of The Spike from a casual ward attached to the old Workhouse then to a hospital and now to a heritage site (Well worth a visit if you're in the area).
(Janet Nixon)