The Sharing Memories, Sharing Futures project
Windmill Hill City Farm is an independent community project situated half a mile south of Bristol city centre, which aims to meet the needs of local people through a wide range of social, environmental, educational, recreational and economic activities.
I’ve been working alongside community development and volunteer coordinator Jules Allen and artist in residence Joe Nute to develop work with various local groups and local people and finding out about their personal stories for the shared memories, shared futures project. The first project topic is that of food. It is intended to create an exhibition with illustrations, photos, stories and poetry. We spent some sessions with the Windmill Hill City Farm older people’s group asking them about their memories of times past. As we began to discuss food, in the process, many other stories emerged, from work to play to the challenges faced day to day.
The benefits of reminiscing
Reminiscing is about reliving and sharing aspects of the past with others. Often our memories can be triggered by a song, smell, object or some other anchor which reminds of some aspect of our past experience. Through reminiscence we can connect and relate to what’s gone before. It is not about cataloguing the past chronologically (such as you would on a CV) but about connecting with past experiences in an engaging and vivid way. This can help to foster self esteem, express individual identity, deliver a sense of achievement and self worth and provide perspective in relation to a life review. In a group setting reminiscence can increase awareness of the uniqueness of individuals, highlight shared problems or concerns and increase a sense of belonging and acceptance. Additionally sharing stories can help to increase understanding and widen perceptions of others experience and often encourage audiences to examine their own views with a realisation that we are all different and similarly, all see each other in different ways . Reminiscence is often used to help with dementia however in this case it was intended that we shared space, connected, had a nice time together and used the inspiration and stories to contribute to the arts project.
Lots of things were discussed but here is a mini – collection of accounts we heard from our group members.
Specific food memories:
- ‘I loved corned beef stew – we never had any proper meat so we used to have corned beef stew – I liked it’
- ‘No fruit, no bananas’
- ‘I remember being in the shelter, eating a saucepan of stew with a wooden spoon and sitting on a plank of wood’
- ‘My husband came from a family of nine – he used to eat a lot of offal’ (‘I guess you have to be quick with a family of nine’).
- ‘In our day we only had two veg shops and you had to queue up. You took home whatever was there’
- ‘I remember having to get up at 4am to go to the meat market so we could get some fat so we could cook chips’
- ‘On VE day, the Americans would pass you in the street and pick you up and put you on the lorry… they were always chewing … they would always say ‘got any gum, chum?
- ‘We used to do a lot more ourselves, keep chickens and have allotments for veg’
- ‘I don’t remember ever learning to cook – I think it just came naturally’
- “Bread and dripping it was very bad for us but oh so good……better than sex really!”
- “Bath Chaps, they are pigs cheeks, oh so tasty, I would love to eat them again.”
- “My nan used to take her chicken for a walk in the pram….I can see her now, the chicken with a bonnet on it”
- “You would have a piece of wedding cake and a cup of tea, we couldn’t afford a buffet. We would sit round the piano and sing ‘Nelly D’ The men would have a beer, no beer for us”
- “The cake was made up of one layer of cake at the top and the rest of the layers were made of cardboard with icing on it”
- “My mother in law taught me how to cook, I grew up in an orphanage you see, no mam and dad, and I had no one to teach me. Chickens was a luxury, my mother in law would hang the chickens on the washing line so all the blood ran out. They showed me how to be a family, I had all the love from my husband’s family.”
Memories of work and leisure:
- ‘I used to work with ammunition up at Avonmouth, testing the tins, the ammunition came in a tin like a petrol can, you used to have a big tank and you put the tin in and if it bubbled you knew there was a hole in it so you couldn’t use it. We did shift work and our days off we used to go to the Barclay tea dances on a Wednesday or to the cinema’
- ‘I left school at 14 and I had several jobs, I worked with my brother in law dipping pokers. You needed to dip the ends in black paint so they could be safe to stoke the fire, and I worked in three pet shops’
- ‘We didn’t have Halloween in my day, I remember May Day being a big celebration, the whole town would come out and dance around the Maypole, everyone and the Brownies and the Guides – you would have a dress that matched the colour of the ribbon you had and you would all have to work together to plait it and keep the ribbons straight. Someone would always get it wrong though or get a knot, we didn’t have much to do during the war ’
From past to present:
- ‘We go to a lunch club for older people that’s really good, I don’t cook that much now, I’m not bothered, I might do a jacket potato. I’ve got family that see me, yes but only for a couple of hours a week. It’s not the same as coming to the farm or going to lunch club, it’s important to be part of a group – it’s good to have people to talk to’
- ‘I like a roast dinner now or a piece of fish – the lunch clubs I go to are really good I don’t cook so much for myself these days’
- ‘I’m on crutches so I can’t get out and about without the bus and groups like these. If they were not here well I wouldn’t go out’
- ‘I like coming to the farm, going to the hairdressers and the lunch club it’s good to get out and about – before the community bus service and the community groups I didn’t really go anywhere – I didn’t go out at all’
- ‘My scooter has been a god send since giving up driving – it’s good to get out and about and up to the church hall – people couldn’t believe it when they saw me zipping around on it’
The sessions were very enjoyable and we had a lot of fun. It really brought home to me the privileges we have today despite the current economic climate, and we picked up on lots of ‘make and mend tips’ and other bits of info including a recommendation for a brawn recipe for pigs trotters . Also how our lifestyles have changed was emphasised, with many people in the group reliant on growing their own vegetables/raising livestock, shopping locally and cooking slowly in comparison to today’s hectic consumer lifestyle.
Whilst we collected lots of stories and memories I was left with an overwhelming sense of the value of the wisdom that an elder’s perspective can often bring, as well as the importance of this specific community group and the benefits of community activity in general. I was grateful and privileged to be a part of the sharing.
Do you have a recipe passed down through generations, a favourite childhood food or thrifty idea to share with us? – Please get in touch – we would love to hear from you!
Windmill Hill City farm also runs a variety of volunteer projects from farming to radio – read about them here and contact Jules Allen for further information and to take part in our project.
Amy-Louise Webber 