Oral History

CDLHS values the experiences and perceptions of the people who live in Charing. The Society has long recognised that so much can be learned about events and times by listening to the memories of people who lived through them.

The Oral History Group was very active in the 1960s and 1980s and recorded a number of interviews with long-term Charing residents providing information on the early and middle parts of the 20th century. Some of the information was published in the booklets:

• ‘A Life In Charing’: Hilda Barnard’s Story.

• ‘Thanks for the Memories’: A Pot-Pourri of Memories of the War Years 1939-1945.

The recordings also proved immensely useful to the group that researched Charing during the time of World War I. More recently those original, reel to reel and cassette recordings have been carefully catalogued and digitised.

We are keen to bring this archive up to date by covering changes and events in the second half of the 20th century, and the beginning of the 21st century.

2019 Our current project: ‘Charing Stories’ aims to record as many long-standing Charing residents as possible. We’d like to capture their memories, and preserve them for use by future generations, and those wishing to understand and document the history of the parish. In fact, to gather any reminiscences and information that will help in understanding the way ‘life was lived in Charing.’

So, if you remember ‘the way things were’ here, (e.g. going to school, working, regular events, particular occasions, celebrations or festivals, particular characters who lived here) and would like to spend a little time reminiscing, please let us know.

Please email communications@charinghistory.co.uk

Covid

At the moment, with the current restrictions, we can’t arrange to record anyone, so in the meantime, it would be really great to have some written memories, to share in future newsletters (only with your permission) but even more importantly to archive for the future.