Memories of living in the countryside near Blackpool: Catching sparrows

NWSA Sparrows by NWSAproject

An account of how to catch sparrows, and what to do with them once you've got them.

From the archives: A Pig Tale by Mary Smith

NWSA A Pig Tale by NWSAproject

Pick a Track!

I have been at the archives again today, and out distributing the postcards about the up and coming events. Very nice chat in music shop. And a moment of calm with Andrew over a brew.

Still, all is ready for tomorrow's 'Sound Archive One Man Band'. I've prepared some tracks to play people, but the main aim is to get out and see what people know about the archives. To whet your appetite, here are the 11 tracks I have prepared-

Albert Hill from Bolton:
1 Christmas 1928
2 Christmas Cake, or how I was cheated of the 3d bit.
3 A trifle disaster
John Standen, chip shop owner:
4 The best potato for chips
5 Secrets of fish batter
6 Fast food, or fish + chips still come out on top
Parkin Bracken, farmer:
7 How true love brought about the milking machine (in 1939)
8 Tips on making black pudding
Mary Smith:
9 How to catch a greased pig
Rose Nuttall, songs from 1930's music hall
10 'We've Got a Navy'
11 'I Love You Because You're Tender and Kind'

Hope to see you in Clitheroe town centre, Saturday 26th June!

Transition Town

On Saturday I went to the 'World Cafe' event hosted at the Grand hosted by Transition Town Clitheroe. They are a community based group working to improve the town and provide practical action for a sustainable future. Many of their interests struck a chord with me and the material in the archives such as local food. It was a very inspiring and well organised event, good to see local people productively engaged. And while some knew about the existance of the archive, others did not...

Particularly interesting was Mark Rotherham's talk on peak oil. He was very eloquent on how the knowledge of old people has been devalued in recent times. The typical 'amusing image' is of the grandchild helping the grandparent to programme the DVD player. But actually, many older skills will come back as being important in a transition economy. Or simply just coming back in to fashion, like the revival of interest in allotments. I couldn't help thinking that the archives are a wealth of useful knowledge, and a good starting point for discussion around these issues. Listening to so many of the accounts makes you realise how quickly life has changed out of all recognition, even from say the 1950s described by one of the recordings of farmers I listened to last week. I look foward to futher links with this group.

Given all of that, it was somewhat ironic that my laptop died on me on Saturday. The Apple shop thinks it's just mechanical, so it could well be up and running again this week. But it may set my work back a bit... Still, onwards and upwards!

Christmas 1928

Christmas 1928 by NWSAproject

Here is a real gem from the archives. This is the beginning of a cassette tape of Albert Hill's memories of Christmas 1928. I asked Andrew about this recording, but all we know is that Albert Hill came from Bolton and the family donated this tape. Albert has clearly written this down, the language is beautiful and very evocative. He elaborates on a theme that many have talked about over the years, the true meaning of giving at Christmas.

Delving in to the archives again....

Another day of delving in to the archives.

Well, it started off with planning with Mark Mason sitting outside in the sun at the Platform Gallery. I am plotting a few activites centred round my work at the NWSA- more of that to come, so watch this space. Then a quick duck in to Booths, I picked up a wonderful wholemeal loaf called 'the staff of life'.

Then I spent nearly all day listening and gathering again, working through my list from Monday of recordings mentioned in the catalogue, mostly on the food theme again. This time- BLACK PUDDING, KOSHER FOOD IN LIVERPOOL, ELDERFLOWER CORDIAL, and PRESTON PUBS were amongst things on the menu. And definitive advice on the best potato for making chips.

As I went through the day it was a bit like working through a certain period of recording technology history. We began the day on cassette, bringing back memories of me recording off the radio as a teenager. How time consuming it seems now rewinding and full forwarding, instead of having your tracks on CD or nicely set out in iTunes.

Then we progressed on to DAT (Digital Audio Tape) later in the day for some of the recordings made in the 1990s. Some later recordings came on minidisc, in two formats. I used minidiscs quite a lot at one stage, I even ran backing tracks for a show 'Harvest of Ghosts' on a minidisc player in 1999. But that too, seems a while ago now.

I couldn't help reflecting how quickly what once seemed the height recording technology has become outdated, almost seeming as remote as the wax cylinders and 78RPMs in other parts of the archives. Clearly a place like NWSA is important not just for its collection of recordings, but collection of devices to listen to them on as well. Good luck in picking up a DAT player from your local Argos.