Capturing Oral Histories on the Roseland

It’s been all hands to the deck, or should we say all ears to the walls, as we launched into the ‘A Window in Time’ project in St.Mawes and St.Just on the Roseland this month.

We started by delivering a very enjoyable training session to members of the St.Just and St.Mawes Heritage Group, arming them with all the skills they need to conduct oral history interviews into the future. Whilst practising what they had learned in pairs, the memories flowed and it became clear that this group contains many voices that also need capturing as part of the project. So armed with their notes and with a new audio recorder on order, we hope the people who attended will enjoy spending more time with each other doing just this.

We have also begun our own recordings, visiting people in their homes to capture their memories of the buildings at the heart of St.Mawes and St.Just and in turn capturing a snapshot of life on the Roseland peninsula over the past century. As always it’s such a privilege to spend time with people listening to their memories, and the variety of stories have been fascinating to hear.

Here are a few of the lovely characters we have had the pleasure in recording so far.

‘A Window in Time’ is being delivered in partnership with the St.Just and St.Mawes Heritage Group and is possible with thanks to funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund.