Rural Arts
The Word Garden : Family Adams, Heritage Lottery Project
The Word Garden has been awarded £49,000 from the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) for an exciting project that explores the local history of Littleport. Our website is now online. The Family Adams Project focuses on J H Adams Ironmongers in the conservation area of the village bringing together local people, schools, museums and artists to collect and preserve personal memories of the village.
January 2012
As part of the wide-ranging Heritage Lottery Funded project based on the J H Adams Ironmongers shop, Playwright, Jean Rees-Lyons, is currently looking for young people to take part in a community play, based upon the life of Doris Elizabeth Adams, to be performed in April . She is holding a read-through and casting on Sunday, 22 January, at 1pm-4pm. Please ring her on 01353 860027 to find out more.
December 2011
We have been unearthing many hidden stories and artefacts over the last few weeks. The project is really starting to take shape. Adam Giles and Richard Millen have started filming the documentary archive film. The play has been written and Jean Rees has started to cast the characters. John Lyons and Nicola Power have been spending time at Littleport Community School and we now have many mini budding archivists! Trevor Vincent has started to design and build the model box, using materials reclaimed from the shop. Helena has been photographing the shop and discovering artefacts that have not been seen for many years. Ricki and Cary Outis are preparing to deliver a series of workshop in January with Milfield Primary school and Branching to explore the history of the shop.
November 2011
The Family Adams Project held its official launch on Saturday 26 November at YPL in Littleport. Hagen Skates and gold sovereigns were just a few of the unusual artefacts, stories and photographs that were shared by over 60 littleport residents, organisation and friends. The project team were on hand to talk about the historical influence and importance J.H Adams Ironmongers shop has had on Littleport.
Anne Mason from The Heritage Lottery fund also attended the launch. Click here to see our launch film
October 2011
BBC Radio Cambridgeshire will be following the progress of the Family Adams project over the next few months. Our first interview can be found here Jane Smiths Saturday breakfast show
September 2011
The Word Garden has been awarded £49,000 from the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) for an exciting project that will explore the local history of Littleport. Our website is now online.
The Family Adams Project focuses on J H Adams Ironmongers in the conservation area of the village, and will bring together local people, schools, museums and artists to collect and preserve personal memories of the village.
J H Adams, at the heart of the community and at its height, enjoyed an international role in the making of the world ice skating championships whilst selling all things domestic from screws and rivets, to paint brushes, pots and pans.
Rarely seen archive objects, photographs, letters and stories from the period between 1880 – 1930 will be used to provoke new memories. These will be shared and explored through film, photography, drama, a ‘living memory’ book and a scale model of Adams shop – a celebration by the community for the community which help preserve these memories for many generations to come.
The project is being led by a partnership between The Word Garden and ADeC (Arts Development East Cambridgeshire), and will be supported by The Littleport Society, and the team is delighted to have received the support of the Heritage Lottery Fund. It is looking forward to preserving and sharing a unique period of social and cultural history of Littleport, in a community event in April 2012.
Robyn Llewellen, Head of Heritage Lottery Fund East of England, said, “We at HLF are delighted to be able to support this imaginative project. Spending time together and experiencing a sense of shared history can help bring communities closer together, and this is a particularly creative way of collecting and preserving the stories that have helped define the character and history of Littleport.
Testimonials
Notes
The Word Garden
The Word Garden is committed to advance the development of the public, including children, in the preservation of cultural history and to passing on of learning through the creative arts, including oral and all visual art forms, new writing, drama and performance by those from differing cultural and social backgrounds, ages and abilities, in amateur, voluntary or professional productive cooperation.
About the Heritage Lottery Fund
Using money raised through the National Lottery, the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) sustain and transform a wide range of heritage for present and future generations to take part in, learn from and enjoy. From museums, parks and historic places to archaeology , natural environments and cultural traditions, we invest every part of our diverse heritage. HLF has supported over 30,000 projects, allocating £4.7billion across the UK, including over £308million to the East of England alone.
Website: www.hlf.org.uk
Images/Video
Babylon Gallery