In late January, Storylines went up North! Well, North Cornwall to be precise, on the search for more stories, this time as part to the Landmark Travels Project. We certainly packed it in over the 3 days we were there, staying in Edmonton for a couple of nights to cut down on travelling.
The constant rain and gales and some very confusing street naming didn’t dampen our spirits and we left feeling enormously privileged to have been accepted into the homes of Joe, May, Tegwyn, Ada, Pamela and Rod and Avis to hear heart-warming memories and incredible stories.
From L-R, top-bottom- Ada Martin, Pamela Bousfield, May Garland, Joe Skinner, Avis & Rod Thomason and Tegwyn Owen
On one of the days we recorded three 93 year olds, and it’s fair to say that the changes they have seen are staggering.
Mays sister Gwen by Trevanion Culverhouse before it was restored by the Cornwall Heritage Trust
We certainly heard about important Landmarks in these peoples’ lives; some near, some far and these included the Wadebridge boatyard, Pencarrow House, the railway running through town, the Brecon Beacons and of course the famous Bridge that spans the River Camel.
Amongst other things we heard about life working at Pencarrow House from Ada, whilst Joe recounted his family’s summer camping trips taken by boat down the river. May told us about setting up a Girl Guides group in the town and their efforts during the Second World War and Tegwyn remembered her days as a teacher at the local Primary school. Rod’s memories were centred around the railway that ran through Wadebridge from Bodmin to Padstow, and Pamela recalled her move to the area and boating up the estuary to Wadebridge for supplies.
These recordings will be archived at Wadebridge Museum and later through the Cornish Audio Visual Archive, preserving them for future generations. We also hope to turn some of them into Digital Stories and have a screening of them in the town at a later date.
Thank you so much to everyone who took the time to sit and share their stories with us. It was truly memorable, especially with May’s cat Maisie who hogged the microphone the whole time. Couldn’t quite understand her stories but they were sure to involve mice!
My mother Ada is wonderful and is passionate about Wadebridge and it’s history. Thank you for this. I am now 60 and miss my hometown. Mum is failing so this will help. Thanks once again.