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ABOUT THE ARCHIVE
 

The Exmoor Oral History Archive has been produced by the Dulverton and District Civic Society.  It contains over 200 hours of audio recordings, the majority of which were completed between 8 August 2000 and March 2002.  Altogether 78 people feature in the collection.

Also lodged with the archive are 16 earlier recordings.  Included in these is a group who were recorded as long ago as 1994, when Winsford parish council celebrated its centenary.

The archive is supported by the book REFLECTIONS, life portraits of Exmoor and a set of audio CDs.
 

This site also includes information about 'Perspectives', an Artlife (West Somerset Arts Consortium) project.  This brought together children and older people in the Minehead coastal area to create an exhibition of images and words for the Moor to Shore festival in 2003. The recordings comprise the reminiscences of six older people (Ian Baker, Dennis Corner, Betty Howett, Hilda Parham, Pam Rayner and Gladys Wilkins) who were interviewed for the project.

Acknowledgements

The archive was recorded by Birdie Johnson, with photography by Mark J Rattenbury.

Summaries of the recordings were compiled by Jim Bell, Sue England, Birdie Johnson, Beryl Keay, Andrea Mayo and Paul Rainford.

The Exmoor Oral History Project was made possible through a grant from the Local Heritage Initiative, a partnership between the Heritage Lottery Fund, Nationwide Building Society and the Countryside Agency.  Their support has been invaluable.

Thanks also go to Tom Mayberry and Janet Tall at the Somerset Record Office for their help and support, and for ensuring the long term preservation of the archive.

The project is also grateful for financial assistance from the following organisations, without which the archive and accompanying book would never have become a reality:

 

ARTlife (in partnership with West Somerset
District Council)
Devon County Council
Edward and Lois Sieff Trust
The Elmgrant Trust
The Esmée Fairbairn Foundation
Exmoor National Park Authority
Exmoor People's Organisation
The Exmoor Society
The Golsoncott Foundation
The Idlewild Trust
The Manifold Trust
The National Trust
North Devon District Council
North Devon and West Somerset Relief Fund
South West Arts
Somerset Community Chest Fund
Somerset County Council