Walking our past with the help of those who lived it

Now if you missed walking Chorlton’s past in sound today you can still capture the moment.

David Govier and colleague, 2022

The event was produced by Hayley Suviste* who was commissioned by the North West Sound Heritage.** 

And draws on the Manchester Studies Oral History Collection to recreate a little of Chorlton’s past using a series of interviews recorded in the 1970s from local residents who were born in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Those memories are part of a wider collection from the Manchester Studies Oral History Collection which are now located at Tameside Local Studies and Archives Centre.***

The walk begins at the old village green, goes up Beech Road to the Rec and then back down Crossland Road, mixing the memories from a century and a bit ago with images from the period.

Chorlton Green, 1979

The real power of course is being able to stand in the very places the memories are themselves rooted and by extension almost touch our history.

Hayley embellished these interviews with field recordings and environmental archival recordings from the BBC Sound Effects Library to bring these interviews to life – from the smithy on Beech Road to skating on the meadows and singing Christmas carols on the green.

Chorlton Green, circa 1900

And she told me, "You can access the walk here, either on the web browser of your mobile’s web browser (if doing the sound walk in person) or on your computer’s web browser (if exploring the sound walk virtually).****

You don’t need to download any software to go on the walk – any browser on your phone will open it up and play content based on your location. 

There is a suggested route for the sound walk (A to B); however, feel free to explore as you wish. We advise using headphones and walking at a gentle and leisurely pace, listening to the audio in each section, and moving on to the next section when the audio stops. 

To go on the tour remotely, go to the Chorlton sound walk, click Open, click Go when it’s loaded, click on the icon of the person at the bottom left, and then drag and drop the icon that appears at point A on the map into whichever blue area you would like to go. The clip will start to play over an image and a bit of text about the recording*.

The full-length interviews are available at Tameside Local Studies and Archives Centre". 

Beech Road, circa 1900

So that is pretty much it, leaving me to thank Hayley who made the sound walk and David Govier and the team from the sound project who provided the interviews and idea.

Location; Old Chorlton

Pictures; David Govier and colleagues on the Green, the Green in 1979, from the collection of Andrew Simpson and the Green and Beech Road, circa 1900 from the Lloyd Collection.

*Hayley Suviste, www.hayleysuviste.co.uk

** Manchester Studies Oral History Collection, https://northwestsoundheritage.org/2019/10/14/the-manchester-studies-oral-history-collection/

*** Tameside Local Studies and Archives Centre, https://www.tameside.gov.uk/LibrariesandLeisure/LocalStudiesandArchives/Local-Studies-and-Archives-Centre

****Chorlton Oral History Sound Walk, https://sonicmaps.xyz/player/?p=772