Leicestershires unusual historical habits revealed
From fattening pigs to enjoying a nice slice of crow pie, unusual historical habits in villages throughout Leicestershire have been revealed by our East Midlands Oral History Archive (EMOHA).
The Archive, which contains audio recordings with people from Leicestershire & Rutland, contains memories stretching back to the 1880s. It provides an insight into the past, including shedding light on many of the interesting – and at times unusual – activities people busied themselves with.
In partnership with Leicestershire Rural Partnership (LRP) EMOHA has added short oral history clips from the Archive to village pages on the Leicestershire Villages website. Thanks to LRP, EMOHA has been able to create a large resource of sound clips dealing with a variety of rural events and issues.
Among the recordings are glimpses into historical life in Leicestershire villages such as Oadby, Lutterworth and Glenfield, with people discussing a diverse range of pastimes from farming, cheese-making and baking, to fretting about an unexploded bomb in Barwell during World War II.
Colin Hyde, Researcher and Outreach Officer from EMOHA, said: “Over the years a lot of recordings have been made in Leicestershire and we were able to select memories that cover a wide variety of rural issues. Although the sound clips are quite short, they give a great flavour of how people remember rural Leicestershire in the 20th century. Subjects covered include hard work in the extractive industries, illness, dealing with the local gentry, and various aspects of farming. We had a lot of fun compiling these clips and there is a huge benefit in bringing links to all the sound clips together onto the one page on EMOHA’s website.”