Museum is helped by memories
A HERITAGE group that has disbanded after more than a decade has donated its remaining funds to Hinckley and District Museum.
Barwell Bits and Shilton Snips has handed over nearly £2,053 to the museum based in Lower Bond Street in Hinckley, which was raised from the sale of speciallyproduced CDs and DVDs over the past 12 years.
The group was formed in 2005 with the aim of recording memories of life and work in the two communities to pass on to future generations.
A Leicestershire County Council grant helped pay for professional recordings, which were produced with the help of group member Dave Kitto of Clifton Bank Studios in Barwell.
The group’s first production was a double CD called Memories are Made of This, featuring stories of life in the two communities, as told by residents.
It was followed by a five CD set called Life and Sole, dedicated to the area’s boot and shoe industry.
Subsequent projects included a DVD journey through the communities, comparing past and present images and recollections.
Other work has been undertaken for community groups including Earl Shilton Social Institute - the Stute - and for people who have wanted to record their own memories for their families.
Museum secretary Philip Lindley said: “Hundreds of hours have been spent in interviewing, editing and compiling the productions, which have all been extremely well received, and have been sent all over the world.
“Now, due to a decline in membership, the group has been forced to close, but members feel that their remit has been fulfilled, leaving a future generation to look back and record the daily lives of our present day generation.”
Chairman of the trustees of the museum, Ann Crabtree said the group has produced a “valuable record of village life and a lasting legacy of recordings” and said that trustees were “extremely grateful for the donation which will be used to further the work of the museum”.