East Midlands Oral History Archive
Transport
In the transport theme, we have the following collections:
Foxton Collection
This oral history collection comprises two interviews and one speech relating to the reopening of the Welford arm of the Grand Union Canal in 1969. Recordings focus on the use of the Grand Union Canal and history of Welford arm.
The Great Central Railway Collection
This oral history collection comprises 50 interviews with people who had links to the Great Central Railway, the railways in and around Leicestershire, as well as people with origins and experience of railways outside the UK who have settled in Leicester. The interviewees were mainly conducted by John Swanwick and Bridget Masters between 2015 and 2018.
The Leicester Oral History Archive
Features recordings about Leicester's trams, railways, and families who worked on the canals (see links at bottom of page).
Platform
Platform was a radio programme broadcast on BBC Radio Leicester from 1974-1989. It was a series for transport enthusiasts, mainly related to trains, buses and trams in and around Leicester, but also covering stories from across the UK. It was presented and produced by numerous individuals over the years but the main presenters were John Kirby and John Cole.
Tracking Our Heritage
This oral history collection comprises 15 interviews focused on the section of the railway known as 'Peak Rail' that ran between Ambergate and Buxton in Derbyshire. Interviewees include former commuters as well as volunteers who worked on, travelled on or lived close to the railway. The collection includes childhood memories of the railway, experiences of different railway jobs such as booking clerks, train cleaners, firemen and steam train drivers, trainspotting, day trips to Matlock and Bakewell, holidays and the social lives of railway staff, closure of railway depots and the eventual running down of the railway and inevitable redundancies.