1. The Lower Medway Valley: local history and community involvement
Dr Andrew Hann

2. Introduction About EPE and the Kent project
Involving the local community: some case studies
Lessons from the experience in Kent

3. England’s Past for Everyone
New venture for the Victoria County History
Ten county-based projects from Cornwall to Durham
Supported by the £3.4m grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund
Like all HLF initiatives EPE had a key aim of reaching out to groups not usually engaged with local history and heritage

4. Objectives of the EPE programme
To raise awareness of the VCH, and widen access to its existing red volume series
To involve volunteers from diverse backgrounds in researching and writing local history materials
To develop new and engaging local history resources for schools
Volunteers involved actively in the research process and their contribution valued. Drawing on the wide range of skills, and knowledge of the local area.
Desire to bridge the gap between academic and amateur history by providing a contextual framework for detailed local historical research

5. The EPE website
Website maintained by central team, but sections for each county. Material for county pages was added locally, but problems with training and complex procedures for editing

6. The EPE project in Kent Two year project
Centred on eight parishes in the lower Medway valley
Explores processes of industrialisation, with focus on brick and cement industries
Title - ‘Life and work in the lower Medway valley, ’
The lower Medway valley underwent rapid industrialisation during the 19th century which transformed the landscape, economy and culture of the area. Industry grew up around the river which provided a conduit to London and overseas markets. Industrialisation centred on the building supply industries – bricks and cement to meet demands from London which was growing rapidly during this period

7. The study parishes
Eight parishes from Frindsbury in the north to Aylesford in the south

8. Brick, cement and related industries dominated the Medway economy post 1850
Peter’s works in Wouldham, one of the largest on the river

9. The Medway valley today
Loss of staple industries: cement, brickmaking, engineering, dockyards
Many derelict sites and decaying housing stock
High unemployment
High levels of deprivation and low educational achievement
Medway valley was deliberately chosen as the study area because of its relative deprivation, low educational achievement and vulnerability to rapid change as part of the Thames gateway. Sense that the history of the area had yet to be told.

10. Frindsbury peninsula in the 1900s
Sense of the transformation of the landscape in recent years

11. Part of the Frindsbury peninsula today

12. John Austin’s drawings illustrate the Medway landscape of the 1980s

13. The project in practice
Successful publicity campaign raised profile of the project
Over 50 volunteers recruited, with a range of skills and backgrounds
Large amounts of high quality research
Important contributions to the book and website
Publicity
There was a need to raise awareness of the project quickly in order to attract volunteers. This led to a concerted campaign of presentations to local history groups, press publicity, leaflets in libraries and archives etc
Volunteers
Kent was very successful in recruiting volunteers compared with many of the other EPE projects – over 50 people expressed an interest and more than 30 became actively involved in the research. Volunteers brought a wide range of different skills to the project. Some were experienced local researchers with publications to their name, others were novices but keen to learn more both from the team leader and fellow volunteers. There was a good team spirit amongst the volunteers fostered by regular meetings, updates and events.
High quality research
Volunteers were provided with guidance and split into teams exploring sources such as wills, newspapers and the census; others did more in-depth research on particular topics such as river barges, religious nonconformity and the cement industry
The volunteers produced high quality outputs emphasising that we should not underestimate the possible contribution of so-called amateur historians

14. First edition of the newsletter
The volunteers produced several editions of a newsletter

15. Exhibition mounted at Medway archives

16. Volunteer group meeting

17. Kent EPE launch event
Launch event was held on Medway campus and was attended by over 100 people

18. But how inclusive?
Volunteers mainly white, middle-class and middle- aged
Many highly educated, with writing and research skills
Most were already involved with local history through local history societies

19. Why were some sectors of the community hard to reach?
Very strong tradition of local history in Kent, particularly amongst the middle classes
Advertising may not have reached marginalised groups: leaflets, presentations, website
Some groups may have felt disconnected from the research topic
Strong tradition of local history in Kent meant this group was the natural constituency for the research. Because it was easy to attract volunteers there was less incentive to reach out to more difficult groups.
Over 100 local history societies active in the county
Leadership role of the Kent Archaeological Society and Kent History Federation
Local history courses offered by universities and further education colleges
Archives have active ‘Friends’ groups, and regular lecture series
Local history has good coverage in Kent press
Time constraints meant advertising had to be focused so as to be effective in recruiting volunteers.
Leaflets in archives and libraries; talks to local history groups and the website tended to reach those groups that were already interested in local history – mainly middle class. Press advertising reached a wider audience
Ethnic minorities, the young and disabled may have felt disconnected from the topic as the industrial history of the valley had little meaning for their everyday lives.
Older residents who remembered the cement industry, plus those with family links to these industries were easier to engage

20. EPE Kent leaflet

21. There were some exceptions: case studies
Roger: the photographer
Village surveys: Eccles
Dean: community pride

22. Digital image taken from glass slide negative- Poynder Terrace, Halling, c.1910
There were some exceptions:
One volunteer, Roger, had recently been made redundant as a lorry driver. He had no training in history, but was very skilled in photography, and was able to use these skills to re-photograph a collection of glass slide negatives found in the basement of Halling school. These produced such good results that he was asked to digitise the entire collection of Medway archives.

23. Halling ‘Then and Now’ pictures
Roger identified the location of the photographs and took new pictures from the same position

24. The village survey team
Architectural surveys were conducted in three study villages – Aylesford, Eccles and Snodland. These had contrasting histories and experiences of industrialisation.
All pre-1914 houses were surveyed and their details recorded on a form. Volunteer recorders were guided by a local architectural historian, John Vigar.
The survey work attracted a local of local interest, and involved some people who had shown less interest in archival research

25. Thomas Buss was a long-time resident of Eccles and the village’s resident historian
Eccles was different from most villages, inasmuch as it was never a yokel village, and never ruled by either parson or squire. The people came from all parts of England…they were all working men, and were all sociable together. The place reminded me of a backwood village in a little commonwealth, with no aristocrats to interfere with them.
Recollections of Eccles, Thomas Buss ( 1908)
Eccles was a special case. This village had a history as a new settlement with working class roots. It had always been a place apart with a very strong community spirit. Here interest in the research was strong and a number of local residents got involved in the project

26. Thomas Cubitt’s highly mechanised brick and cement works at Burham
One example of this is Dean. He is a lifelong resident of the village of Eccles, from a working class background, and was unemployed at the time we did the research. He had a real sense of the history of the place and its roots as a working class community and saw the project as a means of exploring these further. He also had a wealth of knowledge about the local landscape which he had been exploring since a boy. There was also a sense that he feared the industrial legacy of the place would be lost to development and that Eccles would lose its sense of place

27. Exploring the ruins of Cubitt’s brick and cement works
I explored the ruins of Cubitt’s brick and cement works with Dean, wandering off the path into the woods, onto land designated for brown field development

28. What were the ‘hooks’ for getting people involved
Appealing to residents’ sense of place and belonging
Utilising and valuing specialist skills
Respecting local knowledge of the landscape and its history
Offering training and support both from professionals and fellow volunteers
Outreach initiatives – media, presentations, leafleting
The initial attraction for potential volunteers was usually a general interest in the history of their community. Most of those volunteering were born in the area or had lived there most of their lives
Retaining interest meant identifying and utilising the specialist skills or knowledge each volunteer could offer to the project. In the case of Roger this was his photograph skills, for Dean it was his innate understanding of Eccles and its former residents
There were though many residents of the Medway area whom it proved difficult to reach because of the nature of the topic and the limited time for outreach available to the team leader who was committed to producing an accessible monograph volume by the end of the two years. More could have been done to interest young people through education initiatives, and to reach out to black and minority ethnic groups if time had allowed