Project to preserve village voices and memories
A project putting two Louth area villages under the spotlight and bringing them to life through the voices of their residents is said to be taking off in a big way.
Legbourne and Cawthorpe Village Voices is the story of the two villages told by those who live there….and it’s already making waves both here and around the globe.
In a series of programmes, Legbourne and Little Cawthorpe villagers talk about times gone by, about characters and traditions, school life, farm life, community spirit, life now and hopes and fears for the future. Along the way they tell some rich and colourful stories.
It’s all in the form of a series of radio-style documentaries, produced by former newspaper editor and radio producer Mike Cartwright, who has lived in Legbourne for the past 13 years.
“My real hope is that these programmes help to fan the hot embers of community spirit burning just below the surface in the two villages,” says Mike.
“Some people think it’s disappeared, or certainly faded, but I think it’s very much still there, perhaps just in a different form. Surges of enthusiasm for joining in, organising, taking part, helping out come in phases as newcomers and older generations merge together. I’m a real optimist!”
Mike is at pains to emphasise that it is not an oral history, although living history does play a part.
“Village Voices does tell the story of the two villages through the voices of villagers who lived through distant decades and those who live and love village life in the here and now.” he says. “But it’s a long way from being just a cosy nostalgic look at the past. It’ll also look at the two villages as they are today… at regret over some of the losses and at confidence and hope for the future.”
It is a story told in the real voices of current and former residents along with a few who are no longer with us brought to life through the voices of local volunteers.
“They talk about life in the home, on the farm, in school and about daily life in the community. They also talk about rural traditions and fondly remembered characters and tell fine old tales,” says Mike.
The project is being housed on its own Legbourne and Cawthorpe Village Voices website (www.ourvillagevoices.co.uk).
Mike says: “The website is a living, changing beast. Gradually we’ll be adding picture galleries and there’ll be at least another seven or eight ‘programmes’ coming up over the next few months to add to the two that are already there.
“I say programmes because they are, in effect, radio programmes, but they’re not going on the radio…. just on the Legbourne and Cawthorpe Village Voices website.”
The website has been designed by former Radio Lincolnshire producer Mike Kinnaird and a grant from East Lindsey District Council via Little Cawthorpe Parish Council suggested by Coun Adam Grist is helping with website and printing costs.
The first programme, ‘Life in the Dark Age’, looks at life in the forties, fifties and sixties, when the two villages were small, insular and very close-knit. In the second one, ‘Legbourne and Cawthorpe Heart and Soul’, life moves on.
It looks at how ways of looking at village life changed; what attracted newcomers to Legbourne and Cawthorpe in the post-war decades through the late 20th century; what kept them there, what brought them together, and how well did new ideas blend in with older lifestyles?
Mike says: “Reaction to the first programme’s been absolutely terrific and it’s not just been local. We’ve had praise and thanks from around the country and as far afield as Australia and America. People seem surprised and delighted that their own lives can be turned into such a listenable form and they’re just as pleased that the story of the villages and the village voices are being captured for posterity.”
It is also hoped that the village school, local organisations and care homes in the area can make use of the programmes and a future plan is to produce a booklet based on the project.
Mike says he would love to hear from anyone with a connection to the villages who has a story to tell or a memory to share or just to give their reaction to what they’ve listened to.
You can email him at: [email protected], or contact him via the website, or leave a message on the Legbourne and Cawthorpe Village Voices Facebook page.