The Appleby-in-Westmorland Society's 
Oral History Group

The Appleby-in-Westmorland Society’s Oral History Group was begun in 2001, when recording equipment was purchased and a team of volunteers got together. A grant from Cumbria Community Foundation’s Cumbria Community Champions Fund enabled transcription equipment to be bought in early 2002.

 

The aim of the Group is to record memories of local residents on cassette tapes, to ensure such treasures are preserved for the future. The recording of the stories and recollections of everyday lives reveals fascinating details of local life at home, at work, at school and at play. This social history of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries puts "flesh on the bones" of information contained in "official" records and gives a wonderful insight into the way we were and it is often the small, seemingly insignificant, details which will be the most revealing to future generations.

 

Oral History Group Archive

The archive is kept in several forms - we have the tapes, we have typed transcripts of the interviews and we are beginning to store the interviews in electronic form. it is perhaps worth repeating that the material is anonymous and interviewees cannot be identified.

 

It is intended to make the archive available for educational and research purposes, as well as being accessible to any interested member of the public. To this end, we are working towards an electronic subject retrieval by a keyword search and are developing a Web site. Anyone who cannot access the material electronically can contact any group member to make arrangements to view/study the archive.

 Group Members to be contacted

Mrs Vivienne Gate (co-ordinator) 017683 51597

 

 

Anyone who would like to be interviewed can be assured that they will not be identified by name or pressed to talk about anything they prefer to keep private. Reaction of interviewees so far leads us to believe that it is an enjoyable experience and they appreciate being given a copy of their interview.

 

Please get in touch with a member of the group:

· · If you would like to know more about the project;

· · If you would like to be interviewed;

· · If you know someone who you think would be able to give an interesting recording and would be willing to be interviewed.

You can contact the group by email, or, if you prefer, you can contact us by phone.

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