The Forest Oral Histories project aims to digitise and catalogue about 170 unique audio cassette tapes from the 1980s to 2000s. Digitising them will preserve the audio recordings. It will also allow many people to access them. The recordings are interviews of Foresters talking about various aspects of their lives in the Forest of Dean.  They are fascinating to listen to and reveal what life was like in the Forest fifty to a hundred years ago. People share experiences in mining, forestry, and other industries. They also talk about childhood, schools, shopping, towns, and villages. They also include forest dialect and more. 

Elsie Olivey started the collection. She co-founded the Dean Heritage Museum. She noticed Forest life was changing fast. So, she wanted to keep people’s memories by recording them. In an interview on Radio Severn Sound in 1984, Elsie describes why she is doing the interviews:

‘We go out and talk to old people in the Forest. We are trying to get the old ones first because that’s the generation that is fast disappearing. We talk to… men… on mining… and women… domestic service… things on tape you get never read in the history books because you are getting the thoughts of the people themselves’. 

Collections Officer Nicola Wynn  ‘Much has been written about the history of the Forest of Dean, but the recorded interviews further enrich this history by recording the unique personal experiences and memories of people. They really bring history to life and allow us to connect with people’s lives. The recordings reveal the heart and soul of daily life and are by turns fascinating, poignant and moving.’ 

We are working with our project partners, Voices from the Forest. They recently recorded interviews with people. These interviews tell life stories. They explore the work histories of men and women in the Forest of Dean from the late twentieth century. We have added these recordings to the DHC Oral History Archive. We also worked with the Forest Dialect Project. This project explores how the Forest dialect developed and what makes it unique. This project is partly based on DHC oral history recordings.

Voices from the Forest website:

https://www.voicesfromtheforest.co.uk/ 

Forest Dialect website:

https://forestdialect.wordpress.com/ 

 

Volunteers Pat Lacy, Roger Thorne, Alice Paddock, Sue Pawling, Christian Horton, Owen Adams, and Lauren Wynn have done a lot of work. We thank them for their time and efforts. Without them, this project wouldn't have happened. 

This project will create an oral history archive. It will include almost 200 recordings from the 20th century. A key social history archive for the Forest will be a great resource for historians and anyone interested in its history. 

 

The interviews cover a wide variety of topics.

• Coal mining (free mines and large collieries)

• Saw mills

• Iron mining

• Brickworks

• Nail making

• Tin plate

• Transport

• Farming

• Forestry

• Fishing

• Haulage

• Teaching

• Armed services

• Rank Xerox

Home and family life includes:

• Cottages

• Furnishings

• Washing

• Bathing

• Toilets

• Gardening

• Clothing

• Lighting

• Cooking

• Keeping animals

Towns and villages – descriptions, shops, events, and cinemas.

School – various school experiences, teachers, walking to school, and games played.

Domestic service – experiences of various women in what was the most common work for women.

Religion – church, chapel, Sunday school, temperance, outings, and treats

War – both WW1 and WW2, life in the armed services and on the home front, Americans in the forest.

Poverty and hard times – living through the 1920s, 1930s, and war years, living with little money.

Strikes/Unions – General strike of 1926, lockout of 1921, Speech House demonstrations.

Sheep – many miners running sheep.

Health – before the welfare state, doctors, the Dilke Hospital, home remedies, illnesses, and accidents

Dialect – many examples of strong Forest dialect

Leisure/culture – choirs, cinema, songs, sport, fairs, days out, walks, social gatherings, events

Camp Mill (now Dean Heritage Centre) – sawmill, people living in cottages, children playing.

Migration – moving in or out of the forest for work

Miscellaneous – old customs, humour, courtship

 

You can access the full recordings by visiting DHC Excerpts. You can listen to a few recordings available on the DHC website, while you can find more in the DHC database. This searchable database, which contains all catalogued records, is accessible at DHC. To make an appointment to visit DHC,

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Batch 1 - This is the Elsie Olivey collection, the original collection and the oldest recordings. The interviews were carried out in the early 1980s with people who grew up from the 1890s to the 1930s. A rich source of information and interest for early 20th century life in the Forest. Includes many detailed recollections of mining.

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Batch 2 - 12 recordings of interviews arranged by Elsie Olivey through The Forge Centre in Cinderford early 2000s plus various other recordings of interviews of Foresters from the 1990s up to 2000. Also includes the song The Jovial Forester, Forest choirs and radio programmes on free miners and fishing on the Severn.

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Batch 3 - Various interviews recorded in the early 2000s. Interviews of Foresters from early to mid-1900s. Includes several interviews with local farmer Eric Freeman.

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Batch 4 - Various interviews recorded in the early 2000s mostly by John Fowler. Interviews of Foresters from early to mid-1900s.

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Interviewees include:

Harry Barton

Mary Hale

Amy Adams

Tom Gibbs

William Bowlder

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(Click here to download some excerpts of the recordings)