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05/07/06 Where the Lines Meet
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Where the Lines Meet
Bletchley’s Railway Heritage
Living Archive launches website, book and exhibition panels.
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To see TV Footage of the event please visit AskMK.tv - view
Where the Lines Meet is a unique collection of reminiscence and photographs collected by our teams of volunteers to record and celebrate Bletchley’s distinctive heritage of being the railway crossroads of the London to Birmingham line and the original Oxford to Cambridge branch lines.
The launch is on Monday 17th July from 4.30pm until 6.00pm at Living Archive’s base - the Old Bath House (205 Stratford Road ,Wolverton).
This launch marks the end of a project which was funded by the Local Heritage Initiative to collect the stories and memories of people who have worked on, or used, the railway at Bletchley. The information was gathered by local people using local resources and materials provided by Bletchley Community Heritage Initiative and Living Archive.
The railway has been an important part of the growth of Bletchley throughout 170 years. Many people moved here, worked here, and generations of families have been involved with the railway in some form or other.
The project started with a ‘Down Memory Lane’ event in February 2004. Exhibitors included the LNWR society, Bletchley Model Railway Society, the late Arthur Grigg Railway Collection, Bletchley Park, Living Archive, Bletchley Historical & Archaeological Society and several personal collections. People brought along photographs and most importantly told their stories. These were followed up with in-depth interviews and over 30 hours of digital recordings have now been collected.
Year Seven children from two Bletchley Schools, Eaton Mill Combined and Knowles Middle, also got involved in the project. The children took part in a three-day textile workshop working with a local artist. Each school created two banners, one entitled ‘Welcome to Bletchley’, the other ‘Transport through the Ages’. They also interviewed train drivers who had worked at Bletchley.
A plaque situated on the Denbigh Hall Bridge on Watling Street, Bletchley has been restored by a stonemason. The plaque was originally commissioned by Sir Herbert and Lady Leon of Bletchley Park in 1920. It commemorates a time from April to September 1838 when the new London to Birmingham railway terminated at Denbigh Hall and passengers going any further north had to be transported by stagecoach to their destinations. This was until the line joined up at Bletchley to create the London to Birmingham railway link.
A team of volunteers received training from Living Archive in web page creation, photo restoration and oral history interviewing; and they helped to create a photo archive, exhibition panels and website www.myrailwaymemories.org.uk. A book, Where the Lines Meet, records the people’s story of Bletchley’s Railway Heritage. It contains photographs and extracts from interviews conducted over the last three years.
Background to Living Archive and The Local Heritage Initiative.
This project was made possible through funding from The Local Heritage Initiative. The Local Heritage Initiative is a partnership between the Heritage Lottery Fund, Nationwide Building Society and the Countryside Agency. It is a national grant scheme that helps local communities to investigate, explain and care for their local landscape, landmarks, traditions and cultures.
Living Archive exists to help people share a strong sense of community and pride through collecting and celebrating their lives and place through high quality artistic and creative activities. These include Visual, Literary, Performing, Digital Arts and Creative IT projects and training courses. Projects focus on participation with the participant’s lives usually being our subject matter.
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