To commemorate the 75th anniversary of the end of World War II in 2020, the Town Council secured a grant from the National Lottery Heritage Fund to produce a documentary film about Knutsford during the war. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, this project could not take place in the anniversary year but in Autumn 2021 we are now able to start.

This project, which we call our ‘Memories of WWII’ project has three strands:

  1. To train a team of community volunteers to have the skills to undertake oral history interviews
  2. To undertake interviews with people who have memories of Knutsford during the 1930s/1940s and particularly during the war period
  3. To produce a documentary style film using the interviews and archive footage to tell the story of Knutsford during the war

This page contains information about the project and how you can get involved.

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TELL YOUR STORY
HELP RECORD THE MEMORIES

TELL YOUR STORY

We are looking for people who lived in Knutsford in the 1930s/40s and particularly those who remember Knutsford during the second world war – if this is you or someone you know, please read on.

The aim of this project is to record the memories of those who live in Knutsford during this period and collect a social history of the Town. Your memories will possibly be the only place that parts of the town’s history are kept – we want to get this on film for future generations. No matter how minor you may think your recollections are, they will help paint a picture of Knutsford.

Participation in the project is entirely voluntary. We will arrange for a trained oral history volunteer to undertake an interview with you (in your own home if you are comfortable, or at a convenient location) and our filmmaker will record the interview. The raw interview will be published as a record in its own right and we will use extracts from the different interviews to create a documentary film, interspersed with old photographs and even some archival footage of the town.

If you would like to find out more, please contact us for an informal chat about the project on 01565 653 929 or by email to enquiries@knutsfordtowncouncil.gov.uk.

HELP RECORD THE MEMORIES

We are looking to train a team of volunteers in conducting oral history interviews. These volunteers will then conduct interviews with those who come forward to share their memories, creating a permeant record and capturing some of Knutsford’s history for future generations.

The training session will take place on Saturday 9th October in the Council Offices and will be lead by Dr Michaela Hulme – an award winning historian and professional genealogist and lecturer in public history at the University of Birmingham. Michaela has previously volunteered with Knutsford Heritage Centre and was a neighbour of the late Joan Leach!

The oral history training will last three hours and we’ll train a group of 12 volunteers. The session will cover:

  • What is Oral History?
  • Understanding memory and perspective
  • The oral history process
  • Ethics
  • Preparing for an interview
  • Interviewing techniques and questions
  • When things go wrong

Our aim is that after the training session volunteers will feel comfortable to undertake interviews. Michaela will also be supporting the project moving forward and be able to provide additional guidance to volunteers. After the training, we will begin planning the interviews.

If you would like to volunteer, please complete the expression of interest form.

SIGN UP FOR THE TRAINING

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