Southern Culture
Did You Know?
Big Screen
The South East is linked with several pioneers of the film industry
People's History of Milton Keynes
This three-year Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) funded oral history project recorded the story of those whose lives have been affected by the development of the new city of Milton Keynes - including existing residents, pioneer settlers and more recent arrivals. 320 interviews were recorded and this included a significant number of people who were recorded in their native tongue (Somali, Chinese, Italian and Indian languages).
A full-time community historian led the project and her role was to recruit, train and support a network of 37 local volunteers to carry out the interviews and archive the material, including interview summaries and transcriptions, photos and documents.
The results included an exhibition which toured libraries, schools colleges and community centres before coming to rest in Milton Keynes Museum. The project also developed a musical documentary play involving a cast of 50 which put on eight packed-out performances. These activities achieved a great deal in terms of increasing popular understanding and enjoyment of the material collected for diverse communities.
A special database was designed to collect and record all the material, along with a web-based sound archive. The bespoke system has proved really important in providing simple access to the wealth of stories collected, especially for those people in Milton Keynes without sophisticated IT skills.
Contact: Roger Kitchen, Volunteer Co-Director, 01903 318655,