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Waltham Forest Oral History Workshop

Waltham Forest Oral History Workshop. Formation and First Project. Formed in 1983 out of an adult education class in 1982 . Around 8 people signed up. First project was childhood illnesses – ‘Touch Yer Collar Never Swaller ’ Recordings on dentistry, killer viruses and

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Waltham Forest Oral History Workshop

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  1. Waltham Forest • Oral History Workshop

  2. Formation and First Project • Formed in 1983 out of an adult education class in 1982 . Around 8 people signed up. • First project was childhood illnesses – ‘Touch Yer Collar Never Swaller’ • Recordings on dentistry, killer viruses and bacterial infections • Fever and isolation hospitals • 15 interviews undertaken • Book printed by members of the Workshop

  3. Water House Walthamstow – for tooth pulling

  4. Butchers Next project was on the meat trade locally – Pigs Head & Pease Puddingin 1985. 18 people interviewed. 12 members of the Workshop The book described local slaughter- ing, meat auctions, poverty. Again printed by members of the Workshop

  5. Bakers Next title in 1986 was about bakers - Cottage Loaves & Plain Bricks. 7 main and 11 other interviewees. 10 members in the Workshop Change from local corner shop bakers to ‘Wonderloaf’ production baking. Next book was on sweet making – a spin off from some of the breadmaking interviews

  6. Example of early recording: Ivy Williams VHMOH 103 • Born Stratford 1909. • Her father was shot through the head and bayonetted in no mans land in WW1. Never worked again. Talks about the inadequacies of his war pension (27/6 per week for the whole family). • Mother took in washing – describes what she did. Kept chickens. • Ivy left school at 13 worked in various jobs, making ties, Clarnicos, as a maid, describes them in some detail. • Aged 19 she learnt shorthand typing. Worked for a steamship company and various factories – became a book keeper. Describes working conditions. • During WW2 she worked as a cashier in a department store in Leytonstone – poor conditions. • Wartime events and life locally. • Talks about husband and ways of making do – his mum also took in washing. He was a butcher (we used a couple of paragraphs in the Pigs Head book). Ivy Williams interviewed 1984

  7. We Want Winns – working with interviewees In 1991 we started a project on education – too big a subject we soon realised. We were rescued by a woman who said she had been involved in a school strike which we knew nothing about. We worked with a group of four former pupils to produce the book about the closure of their elementary school in 1945 and the strike school their parents set up.

  8. Developments Fairly soon there was recognition that we needed to undertake generic, open interviews. Up to then interviews largely thematic. Beginning of a more life story approach although often with a theme as the reason to interview. Interviews tended to be between one to three hours long – often tied to the length of the cassette tape . Although we did advertise in the local paper many interviewees came through Home Help staff in Social Services or the museum.

  9. Individuals • Two publications on individuals – Jenny Hammond, a Labour Party councillor, We used her autobiographical notes as well as two interviews for the book. • The book about Tom Atkins, who had caught polio at the age of 3, was the result of over seven hours of re recording. • Both books relied extensively on archival material as well as the interviews. Tom Atkins on work

  10. Electronic Publications The Road to Jeremy’s Ferry aneighbourhood study done on a £200 regeneration grant. Coronation Gardens Studyof a park in Leyton – part of a successful HLF bid to refurbish the park.

  11. More Electronic Books Brandon Road Leading to Stocksfield Road Another neighbourhood study this time of a small council estate in Walthamstow – won a LWT TV award Boats Billets and Letters Home A story of wartime evacuation from Dagenham to Norfolk by paddle steamer undertaken by a member of the Workshop (+hard) Behind the Bar A study of the licensed trade in the borough. Interviews plus massive amount of archival material

  12. Exhibitions at Vestry House Museum

  13. Transformer Lives The story of the former Hawker Siddeley Power Transformers factory over seventy years (closed 2004) as told by around 10 former staff. Walthamstow High Street E17 The longest street market in Europe. Old and new recordings (thematic and life story) of the recent history of this historic street for an exhibition in 2012.

  14. More Exhibitions • Behind the Bar Toys, A Serious Business Bill Regan, formerly Company Secretary Britains

  15. Strengths and Weaknesses • Rich collection of recordings dating back to 1972 including • Gas Works interviews • Two neighbourhood studies • Many memories of working in shops • Institutions and hospitals • Horses as main means of transport • Municipal and political life • 1990s African Caribbean recordings • 1948/2012 Olympics memories • Issues for reuse • Early recordings are generally poor sound quality • Need to digitise at least half of the collection • A member of the Workshop needs to proactively support research • Summaries not always available • Early paperwork not digitised • Search facility quite basic • Some communities not represented

  16. Waltham Forest Oral History Workshop www.wforalhistory.org.uk

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