Oral History Project

Oral History Project

Malton Memories

Capturing memories was a vital part of our recent exhibition Malton Goes to Market – from asking people to jot down recollections to more in-depth recorded conversations. We felt it was important to capture these memories before they are lost. We are still collecting memories so if you have a story to share please speak to one of the volunteers in the Museum.

How it all started

‘Stories bring history to life’, said one of our volunteers before breaking out into a story which had us laughing and swapping recollections. This comment led us to apply for funding to enable us to record these memories, to share them more widely and to capture them for the future.

We invited local people to take part in an oral history project that aimed to capture their memories of Malton and the surrounding area, and from them we gained a fascinating insight into the area’s past. We also worked with Racing Welfare, and Slingsby Local History Group.

We would like to thank all of our participants who gave their time and allowed us to capture their memories. We would also like to thank our volunteers who have given their time researching, interviewing and recording these interesting memories.

There follow nine audio recordings from the project; these will form part of our archive for future generations.

This project was funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund for our Malton Goes to Market project.

Malton Memories Recordings

Recording 1 – ‘The Old Prison was our warehouse. Shop and Trades of the Past’ – Maurice Woollons

Recording 2  – ‘Up Malton, Down Norton’ – Anne Cleverley

Recording 3 –   ‘ First Head Stable Girl’ Anne Webster

Recording 4 – ‘The secret ingredient’ – Derek Searle

Recording 5 – ‘Stuck in the Middle – First induction into racing’  – Eric Bromilow

Recording 6  – ‘Farming and Riding and Jiving’ – Louis Pinder

Recording 7  -‘ Walking a Winner’ – Neil Grice

Recording 8 –  ‘Winning the championship with a new breed’ – David and Stephen Prest

Recording 9:  ‘Shopping in the 1940’s’ – Freda Ware