Untold Stories: A glimpse into the lives of local people
Friday, 18 January 2013
Hebden Bridge is a remarkable place and we at the Local History Society are eager to preserve the many diverse aspects of life in the area throughout the ages. Tony Wright of Wild Rose Arts is a local historian who is active in recording present day life as an archive for future generations. For the past ten years he has been collecting personal life stories on film and audio tape and last week he shared with us a video compilation some of these recordings.
The theme of change was the main thread linking the projects. Significantly, it has been the adaptability of the people who live here that has influenced both change and continuity. The challenge of the group was to collect experiences and thoughts that rarely get put into books or make the headlines.
We were treated to a film which showed the diversity and of people who live in the valley, the elderly and their reminiscences of life in the past, people born in other countries who live here now, the young who will form the community of the future, the artistic element both in music and creative mediums and newly formed groups such as the skate-boarders. Also we heard about Fair Trade, Transition Town status, Treesponsibility, Incredible Edible, all the little shops, local breweries, alternative therapies and the festivals and parades, some old, some new, that make Hebden Bridge such an interesting place to live.
The film showed just a small sample of the many hours of recordings that Tony has collected over the past ten years. Tony said that he had tried to show the diversity and difference of local people and a glimpse into how the new people added to the diversity and difference.
The digital archive will certainly be a valuable record of life in Hebden Bridge for many generations still to come.
The next meeting of the Hebden Bridge Local History Society, is on Wednesday 23rd January at 7.30 in the Hebden Bridge Methodist Hall when the speaker will be David Taylor giving us the history of the Hebden Bridge Railway Station in the 19th century.
For full details visit www.hebdenbridgehistory.org.uk or your local library.
See also
City in the Hills - Corinne McDonald and Ann Kilbey told a meeting of the Local History Society of Dawson City, the building of the Walshaw Dean Reservoirs and the publication of a new book. Read more (16 Dec)
Lament for the Mills - Robert Cockcroft, poet and academic told of his childhood spent close to mills owned and operated by his grandfather, John Cockcroft and his father, Keith. Read more (2 Dec)
How much thought do you give to a war memorial? - Mike Edwards told a meeting of the Local History Society, war memorials can be found in many forms and in unusual places. Read more (17 Nov)
Clubhouses: self help and co-operation - A small row of houses in Old Town, called Clubhouses, encapsulates some of the history and spirit of the Calder Valley explains Julie Cockburn. (30 October 2012)
Small Town Saturday Night - The story of a love affair with rock 'n roll at its peak in the 1950s and 60s from speaker Trevor Simpson.
The world of Cornelius Ashworth, speaker Alan Petford, Local History talk of 10 October 2012