The focus of the pilot phase of the Ports of Call project is the creation of three audio walking trails through Silvertown and North Woolwich that start and finish at Docklands Light Railway stations around the Royal Docks. The area is undergoing rapid social and cultural change as a result of its regeneration, many material traces of the past are being erased and there is little connected interpretation of the historical landscape for visitors, newcomers or established local communities.
The content of the trails is being generated from community outreach work, archive research and interviewing. The result will be a public walks programme; three audio CDs; a printed trail map and a website containing a free, downloadable MP3 version of the trails. In addition, the website will contain supplementary historical information, themed and mapped to allow visitors to create their own trails, tailored to their interests.
The trail content combines accounts of life in the area, past and present, with the wider labour, transport and maritime history of East London and the River Thames. Trail 1 from Pontoon Dock to West Silvertown via Barrier and Lyle Parks, focuses on the changing landscape and ecology of the area in the transition from an industrial to a post industrial landscape. This trail is youth oriented and includes music and interviews untaken by young people in the area. Trail 2 from London City Airport to George V focuses on flows of people and goods related to the areas transport and labour history and centres on narratives of arrival and return with a special focus on the East European and West African experience. Trail 3 from George V to Gallions Reach via North Woolwich looks at riverside communities past, present and future and traces the oral history of the ‘Cockney diaspora' downriver as a result of the closure of the Docks. While each trail has a specific thematic focus, they are all linked to an overarching narrative focussing on the impact on the local area of global forces, from the high period of industry and empire to the present day effects of international travel and trade.
The project has the support and active involvement of Drew Road Primary School, St Johns Community Centre, the Asta Youth Centre, Britannia Village Community Centre, North Woolwich Railway Museum, and the Museum of London and the London Borough of Newham. The project is funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund, the University of East London, the Royal Docks Trust and Tate and Lyle.
The following additional community projects extend the programme of activities to directly involve local children and residents in the interpretation of the heritage of the docks and their surrounding communities. It is also hoped that in the process better links will evolve between established and newly arrivant communities around the Royal Docks.
A two week programme of rap music, sound editing and interviewing workshops has been running over the summer holidays, bringing together young people from West Silvertown and North Woolwich to produce a soundtrack featuring their own voices and sounds, and composed into an original soundtrack which will become the basis of Audio Trail I. The barriers , real and imagined, separating these young people from their surroundings are explored as they are encouraged to discover stories about the neighbourhood in the past and interview and interrogate people who are involved in shaping their surroundings today; neighbours, officials from local parks, City Airport and developers. The workshops were led by University of East London music lecturer Jo Thomas, whose recent work includes a sound piece on the Thames Gateway, and has worked on various commissions for Radio 3. She is currently developing the young people's work and incorporating it into the first trail.
The project combines simple digital imaging techniques, archaeology and storytelling as a tool to explore new approaches to children's learning about archaeological heritage and the sustainable environment. The children will learn the practice of archaeology by digging the Thames foreshore at North Woolwich (the site will feature on one of the trails). Images of the things they find will be developed with the help of scanners and computers in the classroom, and a demountable exhibition display based on this work will be professionally produced. The children will also be involved in this work, engaging with both materials and techniques involved in the presenting their work for public exhibition, provisionally at City Airport. The project is being delivered through a residency by artist Helen Marshall with the assistance of Kathy Taylor (North Woolwich Museum) and Andy Brockman, a professional archaeologist.
Link to the Take Me to the River website
Link to recent news story in the Stratford Express
For more information, visit www.memoryscape.org.uk or contact Dr Toby Butler, Project Director at tobybutler@boltblue.com or 01732 366670
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