Projects
Storylines supports people, organisations and communities to unearth and creatively share personal stories. Each community storytelling project is unique, sharing memories and experiences on a wide range of themes.
Follow the links below to explore each community storytelling project in more detail. We hope you enjoy watching some of the digital stories and exploring community memories.
Withy Lore
Until the 1960’s and 1970’s willow crab/lobster pots, known locally as withy pots, were a common sight around our coastline. Through Withy Lore, Storylines and Anna Pope will spend time with those involved in the withy pot craft, recording oral histories, filming pot making and providing opportunities for generations to connect, learn and create. Material collected will be shared through film, art, audio and photography, culminating in an exhibition at the Royal Cornwall Museum from 10th March – 22nd June 2025.
Robertson Family Collection Object Stories
After being shipwrecked by killer whales in the Pacific ocean in 1972, the Robertson family, along with hitchhiker Robin, survived 38 days at sea until they were rescued. 50 years on, Storylines had the privilege of recording their stories to make a series of films for the National Maritime Museum Cornwall. These centred on the objects which saved their lives.
Gwelan Podcasts- Mounts Bay
Storylines collected memories and reflections about Mounts Bay to feed a series of podcasts to accompany Gwelen, an artwork by award winning artist Emma Smith and residents of West Penwith. Inspired by Cornwall’s largest submerged forest that sits in the bay, this community podcast series shares different perspectives of Mounts Bay, as well as exploring its unique geology, ecology, history and culture.
Our Bude, Our Stories
As part of a wider project led by the Bude Climate Partnership, Storylines spent time around Bude collecting memories, reflections and photographs that explored the areas heritage, culture and environment. The resulting digital stories form the heart of 9 innovative toolkits that aim to help the community share their own memories, learn from others and consider what’s important to their community in the face of a changing climate. Over Spring 2022 Storylines used these toolkits to pilot a series of engagement sessions for the community.
Kemeneth
‘Kemeneth’ began in response to the Covid-19 outbreak. Inspired by stories of communities pulling together, Kemeneth corresponded with people by post, phone and online to gather and share personal stories that explore and celebrate community. With thanks to funding from FEAST and the Coronavirus Community Support Fund, distributed by The National Lottery Community Fund, ‘Kemeneth’ celebrates community through stories of kindness, cooperation, tradition and belonging.
Library of Us- Intergenerational Exchange Project
In collaboration with the Penlee Family Project, Storylines created a series of bespoke books to enable people of all ages to share their stories. This included Intergenerational Exchange Books and books which brought together peoples early experiences and stories of lockdown and Covid-19 gathered via a series of 100 bespoke story-sharing packs.
Revealing City Hall
Through the ‘Revealing City Hall’ project, Hall for Cornwall hosted a programme of events and activities to share and celebrate the building’s rich history. Storylines helped capture the buildings history through the stories of people who have lived, loved and laughed within these walls through creating a series of digital stories.
A Window in Time- Roseland Remembers
This project unearthed stories of the historic buildings at the heart of St.Mawes and St.Just on the Roseland Peninsula, in turn revealing the wider heritage of the place and people who lived and worked there. Delivered in partnership with the St.Just and St.Mawes Heritage Group, Storylines conducted a series of oral histories and Memory Walks to produce a series of story-focused films that were shared through workshops and events.
A Flock of Stories
‘A Flock of Stories’ unearthed fascinating stories of seasonal celebrations and personal moments centred around the chapels and churches in the Cornish community of Four Lanes. With support from the Cornwall Heritage Trust this project enabled local people to celebrate their stories creatively. It also provided a resource to encourage schools and other groups to delve deeper into the life of their local church or chapel.
Titanic Stories: Contemporary Voices
Storylines worked closely with five people who had moved from overseas and now live in Cornwall, to hear about their experiences of migration and produce a series of digital stories. Alongside photographic portraits and personal objects, these digital stories featured in the Titanic Stories: Contemporary Voices exhibition at the National Maritime Museum Cornwall.
Guardians of the Reef
Over 2017/2018 ‘Guardians of the Reef’ uncovered and shared stories of shellfishing through a series of heritage events, exhibitions, displays and film screenings. Delivered in partnership with the South Devon and Channel Shellfishermen Association, the project conducted a series of oral history interviews with shellfishermen, many whose families have fished for generations, transforming these into a series of digital stories, and a travelling exhibition, thus documenting a largely unrecorded part of this unique coastal heritage.
Tattoo Tales
‘Tattoo Tales’ recorded and shared the stories behind peoples tattoos through digital storytelling and photography. Run in partnership with the National Maritime Museum Cornwall, the project worked with a wide range of groups to document their tattoo stories. These fed into a major exhibition ‘Tattoo- British Tattoo Art Revealed’ exhibition at the National Maritime Museum Cornwall in 2017/2018.
Merchant Schooner Memories
‘Merchant Schooner Memories’ was a community project that uncovered local memories of merchant topsail schooners from Cornwall and beyond. Working in partnership with the Rhoda Mary Project, the project involved a memory day, the creation of a series of digital stories and workshops with Devoran Primary School.
Linking Lifetimes- Praze an Beeble
‘Linking Lifetimes’ was an exciting Storylines project based in Praze-an-Beeble, which saw us hold a series of events and workshops that brought generations together to share, connect and learn through the common language of story. Working in Crowan School and the wider community over 2015/16, the project explored how primary schools can benefit from a deeper involvement with the wider community, providing new opportunities to enrich the lives of both young and old.
‘Landmark Travels- Our past in a suitcase’
Over 2015-2017 this exciting project unearthed stories, traditions and histories connected with landmarks throughout Cornwall. Through a series of events, workshops, recordings and study sessions for people of all ages, this project explored, documented and celebrated local landmarks and their place within the community. The project was delivered in partnership with the Cornwall Heritage Trust and the Institute of Cornish Studies.
Tallys an Tir; Traditions & Stories of the Land
‘Tallys an Tir’ (2012/2013) worked with communities and primary schools to explore and rediscover our rural Cornish heritage through story, creating an invaluable archive of digital stories and oral history interviews. Through training and events including Memory Days, School workshops, Oral History training, in 5 communities around Cornwall, the project unearthed and shared stories of Cornwall’s rich rural heritage. The project culminated in a series of exhibitions and celebrations and education resource.
Turning Seasons
Working with children from 5 primary schools around Manaccan in 2014, this project used the artist Julia Giles’s installation ‘The Keskerdh an Kammva-dro’, as a starting point to explore the changing seasons and the importance of these to our relationship with the land. Concluding with a colourful celebratory procession at Kestle Barton, the project involved music, movement, art and performance.
