University of Birmingham placement student Aleena was invited to attend the Making Our Mark cohort 2 final gathering event at the end of October. Here she shares what she found out and how Walsall’s community groups reflect on heritage in their own unique ways.
What is heritage? How do local people engage with their own histories? When given the chance, what would they choose to uncover about their own communities?
Making Our Mark is a project that sets out to give the people of Walsall a chance to celebrate their rich and diverse history. It’s an initiative that ensures the inhabitants of Walsall are at the heart of preserving their community and that ‘storytelling’ belongs to its residents.
The projects runs for three years and is divided into three cohorts. Rayna and Fiona guide and develop each project from inception to completion and have recently celebrated the end of Cohort 2. I had the opportunity to attend their ‘sharing event’, a night to celebrate and witness the work and effort behind each project.
Each project struck me as unique and quintessentially its own. You could see each person’s creative hand in it and the meaning that the project held for them. Different aspects of Walsall’s history shone through, from its medieval beginnings to its industrial heyday, to the memories residents had made in its open spaces and the re-discovery of places that had slowly been forgotten. It was also apparent that developing and bringing these projects to fruition was a source of immense joy and pride for the cohort. It was clear, that many people while researching their project, had learnt and picked up new skills, challenged themselves in new areas and built up their own capabilities and confidence. Some even found that their projects took turns they could never have imagined, such as the discovery of a very popular swimming people in Walsall in the 1980s!
Heritage here clearly belonged to the memories and interests of the local community. Some projects focused on personal memory, asking residents what they remembered and felt about their beloved spaces, such as Caldmore Community Garden and King George’s Park. Others focused on how history and storytelling could blend the past and present and still tell a story so unique to Walsall, such as Walsall Writers circle re-imaging and writing about medieval Walsall.
Each project stood on its own merit and talent; Walsall Leather Heritage took interviews of leather craftsman from Walsall and captured their portraits through wet-plate collodion photographic techniques popular from the 1850s! The explanation for this method was that these photographs last 300 years, just like the work of leather craftsmen, which I found particularly thoughtful and creative. New spins on heritage also reframed the more cosmopolitan history of Walsall, such as tracing the growth of the South Asian sport Kabaddi in Walsall and its meaning and impact today.
It was remarkable to see the range and depth of each project and the different angles through which people approached their interests. Their sense of belonging, love and personal connection to Walsall was evident throughout the event, as was the pride they had in their work. It’s remarkable to reflect on what people could achieve if given the chance, and perhaps this is what makes ‘Making Our Mark’ so meaningful. It gives local people the chance to focus on the stories and histories that matter to them and bring a more authentic and personal spin to ‘heritage’.
Making Our Mark is led by Creative Black Country and supported by The National Lottery Heritage Fund, thanks to National Lottery players.
