Five well known housing estates in Truro are about to have their history explored in a new AHRC funded project involving interviews with local people who have lived on the estates.
Unlike past records of history which documented the landed gentry and major industrialists, this will focus on the lives of ordinary people. The aim of this oral history project is to find out more about how people conducted their lives, work, education and how they spent their leisure time over the last 50 years.
Residents both past and present from Malabar, Rosedale, Trelander, Malpas and Tregurra housing estates are being encouraged to share their stories. Experts from the University of Exeter’s History department on the Cornwall Campus, are working in partnership with Truro City Council and the Truro Historical Project to develop the community scheme which aims to explore what things were like and how they have changed and developed since World War Two on the housing estates.
Dr Kayleigh Milden from the University of Exeter has already recorded several interviews with residents in their homes and is excited by the range of responses, she said: ‘the story of Truro’s housing estates has almost been forgotten within the city’s history. This is a fantastic opportunity for us to tell the story of the estates through the residents’ words, which is the true ethos behind oral history: celebrating ‘hidden histories’ through the peoples’ voice. This is also an important project nationally, as it provides a valuable insight into the experiences of the generation of people who made up the first communities on the new council estates constructed after the Second World War.’
Read more about this project on the University of Exeter website.
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About Arts and Humanities Research Council: Each year the AHRC provides approximately £102 million from the Government to support research and postgraduate study in the arts and humanities, from languages and law, archaeology and English literature to design and creative and performing arts. In any one year, the AHRC makes approximately 700 research awards and around 1,350 postgraduate awards. Awards are made after a rigorous peer review process, to ensure that only applications of the highest quality are funded. Arts and humanities researchers constitute over a quarter of all research-active staff in the higher education sector. The quality and range of research supported by this investment of public funds not only provides social and cultural benefits but also contributes to the economic success of the UK.