Untold Stories: sharing stories across the generations

As part of The People's Heritage Co-operative's HLF funded project, 'Untold Stories: Birmingham's Wounded Soldiers from WW1', Year 8 pupils at Swanshurst School took part in a series of workshops with Rachel Gillies - Community Film Maker to learn how to conduct filmed oral history interviews.

Filming Untold Stories

So here I’m sat at my desk, looking through scores of photos and hours of footage, wondering how I’m going to pull so much fantastic stuff together.  My job, you see, is to turn all of the lectures, interviews, workshops and explorations we have undertaken through our ‘Untold Stories’ project into a finished film for our launch on 13^th September.

Ties that Bind

Private Jesse Hill [WAVE: DX554]

Over the last few weeks we have been supporting Big Brum Theatre in Education Company with their new WW1 project, Ties that Bind, which is supported by the HLF. We’ve been lucky enough to see previous WW1 productions by Big Brum and have been in awe of their creativity, passion and immense talent for working with young people in order to explore complex and challenging situations. Ties that Bind involves working with young people from schools in Birmingham and Wolverhampton to explore the experience of the young men involved in the First World War and their relationship to each other. This week I went with Matt and Richard from the company to Wolverhampton Archives, where I previously did some work, to explore a particular deposit that I hoped would be inspiring for the project. 

Untold Stories events

Gym, Highbury Hospital, Reproduced with permission of the Library of Birmingham

A series of talks will be held in February and March 2016, open to members of the public as well as Co-operative members. Do please get in touch if you would be interested in volunteering for this project, or have any family stories that you'd be willing to share.

HLF fund untold stories of Birmingham's injured soldiers

Soldiers at Highbury Hospital in Moseley. 

Reproduced with permission of the Library of Birmingham

We are pleased to announce Untold Stories: Birmingham's Wounded Soldiers from WW1, a new project funded by a Heritage Lottery Fund First World War Then and Now grant. The project will focus on the untold stories of soldiers returning to Birmingham from the Great War with serious physical and psychological injuries. It will map the sites of hospital treatment and convalescence that were set up in the city and will explore what happened to the soldiers after their treatment ended.

Moseley St Mary’s Heritage & Access Project

GeoPhysics survey by StrataScan prior to path realignment

I’ve recently become involved in an HLF funded heritage project at St Mary’s Church Moseley – or more specifically the churchyard. The large churchyard at the back of the church on St Mary's Row is the only piece of public green space in the village but having fallen into disrepair and becoming a focus for anti-social activity it has been much underused for many years. 

Parishioners and local residents have made great strides over the last 5 years to cut back overgrown vegetation and make general improvements to the site – and a Project committee was formed which, following public consultation, produced a MasterPlan and subsequent funding application.