SonicMaps
presents
Chorlton Oral History Sound Walk
North West Sound Heritage has commissioned local sound artist Hayley Suviste to create this sound walk, using interviews from The Manchester Studies unit's extensive oral history project from the 1970s. Older adults (born in the late 19th and early 20th centuries) were interviewed about their time growing up, living, and working in Chorlton between 1900 and 1950. • There is a suggested route for the sound walk (A to B); however, feel free to explore as you wish. We advise using headphones and walking at a gentle and leisurely pace, listening to the audio in each section, and moving onto the next section when the audio stops. Supported by the National Lottery Heritage Fund.
If you have 5 minutes we'd really appreciate it if you could answer these quick questions: https://www.smartsurvey.co.uk/s/B208K3/ (leave your snail mail to get a sound archive goody in the post!)
• The full-length interviews are available to listen to at Tameside Local Studies and Archives Centre • Discover more of Hayley's work at www.hayleysuviste.co.uk • North West Sound Heritage www.northwestsoundheritage.org
Creator: North West Sound Heritage
Published: 3 March 2022
🎧Audio Samples
Recreation Ground
0:00
Listen to memories of the recreation ground (now Beech Road Park), and the games played as children in the park and on the street. This section features Mrs Nuttal, Mrs Kathleen Kelsall, Mrs Clarke, Mrs D. Duncan, Miss Ledger, Mrs Eva Booth, Mrs Beatrice Wild, and Mr Edward Williams.
• Field Recordings from BBC Sound Effects (bbc.co.uk – © copyright BBC): ‘5-10 year olds in urban playground with shouts, footsteps, swings, and distant traffic – 1981’, ‘Children playing in a school playground in the south of England’, ‘One horse wooden cart travelling’ & ‘group of mixed children singing 'Poor Jenny is a-weeping', with movement – 1980’
• [Photo: Beech Road/corner of Wilton Road, Recreation Ground (1958) (Manchester Libraries, m17652)]
Chorlton Green
0:00
Mrs Clarke, Mrs Torrance, Mrs Kathleen Kelsall, and Mrs Dovey recall Christmas and New Year celebrations on Chorlton Green, with the Chorlton Silver Prize Band.
• Mrs Kathleen Kelsall and Mr Gill recollect the maypole that used to be on the Green.
• Mr Edward Williams recounts a time he saw the Suffragettes on the Green.
• Mrs Kathleen Kelsall recalls WWI and the air-raid shelter that was on the Green.
• Field recordings from BBC Sound Effects (bbc.co.uk – © copyright BBC): 'Church Bells, Inside Porch, St. Chads Parish Church, Rochdale' & 'One horse wooden cart travelling.'
• [Photo: Chorlton Green, 1928 (Manchester Libraries, m17703)]
Chorlton Pubs: The Horse & Jockey
0:00
Featuring interviewees Mrs Dovey, Mr Alfred Smith, Miss Ledger, Mrs Clarke, and Mrs Torrance, discussing the pubs in Chorlton, including the Horse and Jockey. Also features conversations about women's experience of the public houses in those days.
• [Photo: Horse and Jockey, 1928 (Manchester Libraries, m17707)]