ABOUT THE PROJECT
Here, you can learn about the project's history, as well as the people who brought it to life.
RETURN TO HOMEPAGE
Here, you can learn about the project's history, as well as the people who brought it to life.
The Exmoor Oral History Archive was produced by Birdie Johnson as part of the Dulverton and District Civic Society project to capture for posterity life in this rural community at the turn of the 20th century. The collection contains the life stories of 78 contributors, dating between 1994 and 2002, totalling 205 hours of recording, and covers both the North Devon and West Somerset sides of the national park. Included in the archive are 16 earlier recordings, a number of which were recorded in 1994 on the occasion of Winsford parish council's celebration of their centenary.
The completion of the project was celebrated in Dulverton in October 2002, with many of the contributors and their families joining author Penelope Lively for the launch of Reflections - Life Portraits of Exmoor. Co-authored by Birdie and Mark, Reflections is the commemorative accompaniment to the archive, linking portrait to person. It was produced without a publisher, an achievement due entirely to designer Jo Kidd, who also oversaw print management and much else.
The project relied on volunteers to write summaries of the recordings and heartfelt thanks go to Jim Bell, Sue England, Beryl Keay, Andrea Mayo and Paul Rainford for taking this on. Writing summaries requires diligence, dedication and stamina and is not for the faint hearted. Their summaries are all now available on this website, some in more detail than others (inevitably, time ran out).
Brought up on a remote farm on Exmoor, Birdie was working in Paris in 1974, when her mother sent her an advertisement from the West Somerset Free Press for the post of secretary to the Exmoor National Park Officer. So she came back, got the job, and became the third member of staff at Exmoor House in Dulverton, where the new National Park Department (as it then was), was establishing itself on the reorganisation of local government. Some years later she moved to London, but the draw of Exmoor was too great. She returned once more, working again for the National Park until leaving to pursue her developing interest in oral history and life story recording. Which is how she came to be project officer for this archive. It is an experience she will never forget; the passing of time doesn't diminish it. If asked to list her greatest achievements in life, producing the archive would be one of them.
Inspired by her work with the project, Birdie went on to take an MA in Life History Research. She has since moved to the High Weald of East Sussex, where the landscape serves as a replacement for the Exmoor she has left behind. Although now living the other side of the country, she still maintains her interest in Exmoor and the archive. She always will.
Ken Baker, interviewed in 2002.
Mark has lived in Devon for most of his life. His work has varied, from press photography for publications like the Guardian to documenting a busy A & E department and working with the Beaford Arts Centre to create a photographic study of a rural farming community. His photography stems from a passionate interest in people and the issues which affect their lives. His journey around Exmoor was the fulfilment of a long-held desire to photograph a landscape through the people who reside there.
Following the launch of the archive, Mark took a step back from photography and retrained as a mental health nurse. Since then he has been working with the Devon Partnership NHS Trust mental health rehabilitation services, bringing to it the same dedication with which he approached photographing the contributors to the archive. His love of the landscape hasn't left him. He believes that however we choose to engage, nature surrounds and connects us all and that through that connection we can find healing and purpose in the every day.
Except where explicitly stated, all photographs on this website were taken by Mark.
The Exmoor Oral History Project was made possible through a grant from the Local Heritage Initiative (a partnership between the Heritage Lottery Fund, Nationwide Building Society and the Countryside Agency). Their support has been invaluable. Thanks also go to Tom Mayberry, Janet Tall and the team at the South West Heritage Trust for their help and support since the project’s inception, and for ensuring the long term preservation of the archive.
Hope Bourne, interviewed in 2002.
The project is also grateful for financial assistance from the following organisations, without which the archive and accompanying book would never have become a reality:
• ARTlife (in partnership with West Somerset District Council)
• Devon County Council
• Edward and Lois Sieff Trust
• The Elmgrant Trust
• The Esmée Fairbairn Foundation
• Exmoor National Park Authority
• Exmoor People's Organisation
• The Exmoor Society
• The Golsoncott Foundation
• The Idlewild Trust
• The Manifold Trust
• The National Trust
• North Devon District Council
• North Devon and West Somerset Relief Fund
• South West Arts
• Somerset Community Chest Fund
• Somerset County Council
The original sound recordings were digitised by the 2017-2022 Unlocking Our Sound Heritage project, which was funded by the British Library and the National Lottery Heritage Fund, with donations from other charities and individuals, including the Foyle and the Garfield Weston Foundations.
Peter Batchelor, interviewed in 2002.