Post on 21-Jan-2016
The Lower Medway Valley: local history and community
involvement
Dr Andrew Hann
Introduction
• About EPE and the Kent project
• Involving the local community: some case studies
• Lessons from the experience in Kent
England’s Past for Everyone
• New venture for the Victoria County History
• Ten county-based projects from Cornwall to Durham
• Supported by the £3.4m grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund
Objectives of the EPE programme
• To raise awareness of the VCH, and widen access to its existing red volume series
• To involve volunteers from diverse backgrounds in researching and writing local history materials
• To develop new and engaging local history resources for schools
The EPE website
The EPE project in Kent
• Two year project
• Centred on eight parishes in the lower Medway valley
• Explores processes of industrialisation, with focus on brick and cement industries
• Title - ‘Life and work in the lower Medway valley, 1750-1914’
The study parishes
Brick, cement and related industries dominated the Medway economy post 1850
Peter’s works in Wouldham, one of the largest on the river
The Medway valley today
• Loss of staple industries: cement, brickmaking, engineering, dockyards
• Many derelict sites and decaying housing stock
• High unemployment
• High levels of deprivation and low educational achievement
Frindsbury peninsula in the 1900s
Part of the Frindsbury peninsula today
John Austin’s drawings illustrate the Medway landscape of the 1980s
The project in practice
• Successful publicity campaign raised profile of the project
• Over 50 volunteers recruited, with a range of skills and backgrounds
• Large amounts of high quality research
• Important contributions to the book and website
First edition of the newsletter
Exhibition mounted at Medway archives
Volunteer group meeting
Kent EPE launch event
But how inclusive?
• Volunteers mainly white, middle-class and middle-aged
• Many highly educated, with writing and research skills
• Most were already involved with local history through local history societies
Why were some sectors of the community hard to reach?
• Very strong tradition of local history in Kent, particularly amongst the middle classes
• Advertising may not have reached marginalised groups: leaflets, presentations, website
• Some groups may have felt disconnected from the research topic
EPE Kent leaflet
There were some exceptions: case studies
• Roger: the photographer
• Village surveys: Eccles
• Dean: community pride
Digital image taken from glass slide negative- Poynder Terrace, Halling, c.1910
Halling ‘Then and Now’ pictures
The village survey team
Thomas Buss was a long-time resident of Eccles and the village’s resident
historian
Eccles was different from most villages, inasmuch as it was never a yokel village, and never ruled by either parson or squire. The people came from all parts of England…they were all working men, and were all sociable together. The place reminded me of a backwood village in a little commonwealth, with no aristocrats to interfere with them.
Recollections of Eccles, Thomas Buss ( 1908)
Thomas Cubitt’s highly mechanised brick and cement works at Burham
Exploring the ruins of Cubitt’s brick and cement works
What were the ‘hooks’ for getting people involved
• Appealing to residents’ sense of place and belonging
• Utilising and valuing specialist skills
• Respecting local knowledge of the landscape and its history
• Offering training and support both from professionals and fellow volunteers
• Outreach initiatives – media, presentations, leafleting