In July 2022 we ran four oral history training workshops for twenty project volunteers to learn interviewing skills in order to record at least one interview for the project each. The workshops were fun and engaging and we established a cohesive team of volunteers, making friends along the way.
The interviews took place over the summer and into October and we are now delighted to have completed the planned twenty-five interviews. These will be used for our exhibition and performance outputs, and also to create an archive for researchers to make use of in the future, when they will be stored at the Vaughan Williams Memorial Library. The interviewer team did an admirable job in a professional manner, with help and guidance from Vaughan Williams Memorial Library staff and Star Creative Heritage.
Enormous thanks goes out to all those involved, but even more importantly to the twenty-five interviewees who were so generous with their time and in sharing their memories with us for the project and posterity:
- Frankie Armstrong
- Dom Bonito
- John Cain
- Alexander D Great
- Bob Davenport
- Dave East
- Sheila Finn
- John Foreman
- Ron Gould
- Peter Greig
- Reg Hall
- Sandra Kerr
- Chris Lamb
- Doreen Leighter
- Sheila MIller
- Dave Peabody
- John Pole
- Simon Prager
- Leon Rosselson
- Kevin Sheils
- Sue Swift
- Peta Webb (with Ken Hall)
- Sue West
- John White
- Maggie Wood
We aimed to select for interview a range of voices and perspectives of people, involved in London Folk Clubs, that we could interview in-person if possible within budget constraints. We realise that there are many more people that have valuable insights and memories to record, but we do not have the scope within this project to interview everyone. If you would like to send us your London Folk Club memories in written format, we may be able to include these in the archive. Do get in touch if this is the case: sam@starcreativeheritage.org.
Main images: Dom Bonito by Peyvand Sadeghian, Sheila Miller by Jowan Collier and Alex D Great by Sam Carroll.
