What makes a place feel like ours? Heritage stories from Walsall
A school sports day at King George’s Park. A childhood spent visiting Caldmore Community Garden. These are all part of the borough’s heritage, and they’re the kinds of stories local people have been exploring through Making Our Mark.
Making Our Mark is a Creative Black Country programme that supports local people to explore and share Walsall’s heritage. In this second round of projects, participants have looked through archives, gathered memories and found creative ways to share what they’ve learned. These four short films give us a glimpse of that work.
Imagining medieval Walsall. Walsall Writers Circle used archive research to imagine what everyday life might have been like in the medieval town. Their research inspired 12 stories, which became a book and provided material for a performance. In the film, the writers reflect on how getting to know Walsall’s past changed the way they saw the place they live today.
Remembering Kingy’s. For Karnivals and Kickabouts at Kingy’s, Martin Hughes gathered memories of King George’s Park in Bloxwich. Recollections of football, school sports days and carnival help tell the park’s history through the people who grew up using it. Martin made a series of illustrated publications to share with people.
Growing up with Caldmore Community Garden. Young people and volunteers learned how to interview others about their experiences of the garden. Through interviews, photography and art, the project explored the friendships people made there and how some children grew up to become volunteers themselves. Collected stories and memories came together on a storytelling tree at the garden’s Storytelling Festival.
Caring for Mill Lane Nature Reserve. In the archives, Lily from Wild Earth Movement found early leaflets describing the reserve as a green jewel of Walsall and a place for families to enjoy. Conversations with local people brought the story up to date, with concerns about litter and safety. A community clean-up was a practical first step towards caring for the reserve again.
Much of what we know about a place comes from people who remember how it was used, who worked there and what it meant to them. Those details can easily go unrecorded. By giving local people the time and support to decide what to explore and how to share it, projects like these help build a fuller picture of Walsall and give more people a chance to see their own experiences as part of its history.
Making Our Mark is led by Creative Black Country and supported by The National Lottery Heritage Fund, thanks to National Lottery players.