REMEMBERING WIVENHOE – Our Community Oral History
The public launch of the Wivenhoe Oral Community History Project took place in the British Legion Hall on Wednesday, 2nd June, 2004 at 7.30pm
Many people came to hear what the project was about.
This group, chaired by Rev David Thomas, with Brenda Corti and Paul Thompson as the key people behind the project, has been more than two years in the creation.
A grant of £43,000 from the Heritage Lottery Fund was awarded to the group to allow work to commence in recording the experiences of Wivenhoe as a community from the 1940’s onwards. (Note: In fact the group collected memories from much earlier in the 20th century).
The group aims to cover the working lives of of such local people as fishermen, yachtsmen, shipbuilders, railway workers, shopkeepers, builders etc to create an oral picture of life in Wivenhoe.
The meeting in the British Legion Hall was an open meeting and very well attended too. The Project has created a lot of excitement in Wivenhoe.
Two years later, the team of about 15 people have interviewed 190 people. The book was published, in October 2006, followed shortly after by the DVD. They are available in the Wivenhoe Bookshop.
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Right: Brenda Corti and Paul Thompson examining some of the material collected by John Stewart at his remarkable Wivenhoe Memories exhibition held in May 2004. The exhibition raised £360 for the Wivenhoe Mayor’s Charity Fund.