The Stour Valley Group was set up with the mission to explore the significance – historical, social and physical – of the Stour River that runs through the DT11 region, and to delve into its importance to the settlement of Blandford now and in the past.
As part of this project, we decided to apply the oral history training that some of us have received as part of the Cranborne Chase “Memories Captured” project to build a collection of stories from locals about the river.
We achieved the first step towards this recently by recording the memories of Joy Reynolds, the chair of the Blandford Town Museum’s Trustees. Joy has been a local resident since 1976. The practice interview went well, and the team captured some great tales of Blandford. Over coming months, we want to collect other stories from local people to better reflect Blandford. This collection will hopefully become part of the museum’s exhibits – living history.
If you have a story to tell, or are interested in being part of the process, please contact the Museum.
Another branch of the Stour Valley project is creating a Textile to tell the story of the Stour Valley in medieval times, using embroidery techniques. The Stour Valley Sampler group is collecting and researching local relevant history and starting to map creative ideas and practice techniques. If you have an interest in textile art, history and local flora perhaps this group is for you?
For more information about the Memories Captured project please visit https://cranbornechase.org.uk/chaseandchalke/memories-captured/