History is all around us, in our own families and communities, in the living memories and the experiences of older people. We have only to ask them and then listen. This kind of history - that we all gather as we go through life - is the basis of Village Voice.

 

Everyone has a story to tell about their life which is unique to them. Regardless of age or status we all have interesting experiences to share.

Most importantly, historical documents and books can't tell us everything about our past. Often they concentrate on famous people and big events, and tend to miss out people talking about everyday events. They also tend to neglect people on the margins of society - the young, ethnic communities, disabled and unemployed people perhaps - whose voices have been hidden from history.

 

Village Voice aims to fill the gap and to give us an inclusive historical record. Unfortunately, because memories die when people do, if we don't record people's life histories they are lost, as are their voices, forever.

 

 

 

George Sykes

Reminiscences and anecdotes of George Sykes.

 

Part 1

 

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Joan Fisher

Reminiscences and anecdotes of Joan Fisher.

 

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Ernie Taylor

Reminiscences and anecdotes of Ernie Taylor.

 

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Freda Waters

Reminiscences and anecdotes of Freda Waters.

 

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Bill Iving

Reminiscences and anecdotes of Bill Iving.

 

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Daisy Shrewsbury

Reminiscences and anecdotes of Daisy Shrewsbury.

 

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Fred Deeley

Reminiscences and anecdotes of Fred Deely, who lived in Deddington all his life and died in 1998 aged 94.

 

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Sid Berry

Reminiscences and anecdotes of Sid Berry, born 28 April 1920 in Deddington.

 

Recorded by Rob Forsyth and Colin Robinson during 2004 and 2005. Sidney started his working life as an apprentice baker - of which there were at least eight in the village - and the first recording, made on 21 November 2004 in his favourite and somewhat squeaky arm chair, is entirely devoted to recollections of stories about the village when he was a young lad.

 

 

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Oral Recordings of Sid's reminiscences are held in the The Royal Naval Submarine Museum in Gosport and the Royal Naval Museum in Portsmouth and can also be heard by following the links below. The timing/subject key to the recordings provides a very good synopsis of his experiences should you not have time to listen to them..

 

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A further recording on 3 August 2005 concentrated on the shops and businesses in Deddington before the Second World War.
There is inevitably some overlap with the 2004 recording.

 

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Village Voice

An interview with Norman Stone and Fred Deeley in the Kings Arms.

 

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