True's Yard in King's Lynn explores moments of Great Change
The Great Change exhibition was opened by the deputy mayor, Lesley Bambridge on Friday at True's Yard Fisherfolk Museum in Lynn.
This is a major oral history project which has been undertaken to look at moments of great change in the town’s history and the current pandemic.
Oral history as a record of the people’s voice has always been important for True’s Yard and this project will allow the museum to save these memories for future generations.
Lindsey Bavin, museum curator, said: "We were really pleased as this has been a key project. We have collected some remarkable stories from people who worked at the hospital, people who gave birth during the pandemic and contrasted these with various stories with the past.
"During World War II there was an account from an air raid warden digging through the debris looking for survivors of a bombing and he heard a little voice say: 'Do you mind hurrying up I would really like a cup of tea', and he finds a little girl buried beneath the rubble."
The Great Change Oral History Project compares the present with the past by collecting both stories of the slum clearances, war, and migration but also those stories of the present generation both pre-Covid and throughout the pandemic.
The two subjects may seem at odds with each other, but there are many common themes. The loss of community when neighbourhoods are forced to move out or stay inside, and also about human resilience, strength, and pride of the Lynn people.
The exhibition will run for several months visit; https://truesyard.co.uk/oral-history-project/