The plan for the day was to find some recordings as inspiration and source material for my work, and to share with public to let people know about this gem of sound.
With some estimated 140 thousand recordings (many of them an hour long) it was a bit daunting to know where to begin. Luckily Andrew was on hand to guide me through. After a brew, he showed by the archive database which is a rather gloriously retro search engine. It comes from a time before computer mice. Even so it only took a few minutes to master and it certainly does the job. I chose to focus on the music and spoken word/oral history parts of the collection which are further subdivided.
Particularly fruitful was a search on audio to do with food. Each entry has a short description of the contents- a tantalising view in whole worlds and lives. CHRISTMAS 1928. NEW YEAR 1930. CATCHING SPARROWS FOR FOOD. ROSE NUTTALL BORN 1889- ROSE SINGS SONGS OF THE PERIOD TO 1930. WATERCRESS, OATCAKES AND SALT. Well over 1000 items came up for food in oral history, it took me maybe an hour to read through 500 database entries.
Still, I came up with a list of things that seemed promising and had got me curious to hear more. I certainly wasn't disappointed. There is something extraordinary about recordings that make the years fall away. Rose Nuttall may have been born in the 19th century, but that pair of lungs and laugh reached out through the speakers. A happy couple of hours was spent listening and recording, laughing at Mary Smith's poem about how to catch a greased pig, shuddering at descriptions of maggots coming off cured pig meat... The afternoon finished for me with the calm captivating voice of Albert Hill describing Christmas 1928.
I look forward to sharing some of this with you all. Or, contact the archives yourself, or get involved with one of their recording projects.
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