Local villagers from the
communities of the Alde and Ore rivers were actively engaged
in recording oral history stories about changing life on the
two rivers as part of the Ebb and Flow project. Fourteen
volunteers from these communities were trained by the British
Library Sound Archive in how to use digital recording
equipment and conduct professional oral history
interviews.
Over thirty hours of interviews with over twenty people were
from Aldeburgh, Snape and Orford were recorded. Long forgotten
facts and insights have been re-discovered through the storytelling
of the local villagers. The interviews will contribute to an
archive of rich stories about the river landscape, rural life, the
old Maltings at Snape, the war years and sailing and fishing on the
Alde and Ore.
Pat Lord, one of the interviewees,
tells an animated story of her brief sighting of Sir Winston
Churchill in Snape during the Second World War, "The convoys
of trucks and tanks and things that went over that poor little
bridge was unbelievable.... and I sat on the bridge one day
watching and who should come over but Winston Churchill,
Montgomery and Eisenhower, all in a big limousine... we
weren't expecting it, it was just a great treat.”
You can hear soundbites from the interviews by following the
links below. They are also available via listening posts
installed on the Sailors Path between Snape and Aldeburgh
and at Orford Quay.
Oral history soundbites
You can download the sound files (right-click to download) or
listen to them online (depending on the speed of your Internet
connection) by selecting the links below: