And so it begins... The Butterfly House

The pristine white box has begum to transform! Blow-ups of the photos I've been collecting from people in SW Burnley arrived - ready for the collage. I took photos of doors and windows, and scaled them to the size of the house - the photos were taken at an angle to give the illusion of depth - these architectural features are the starting point - images of people and skylines of the area will be added. Then, throughout the coming week, residents are invited to respond to the Butterfly House, add to it - leave notes, images, objects - make it their own!

I was apprehensive - what would the residents make of the space and the structure? Annette and Bernie from The Cabin came up to have a look. Their response was more than I could have hoped for - they loved it! We were all busy talking about what could happen in the space, what could be added to the house. We're going to work on the collage this Sunday - before groups start to use the space throughout the week. Bernie made some lovely comments: "This is right up my street (literally)" ... .."This is ours". Annette and Bernie said they didn't want it to be dismantled at the end of the week - they want to keep it. This turned into a conversation about the lack of a 'space' in SW Burnley. We have real community assets like The Cabin (with its shop selling everything from second hand clothes to household goods) and The Stoops & Hargher Clough Community Centre (which is in constant use by numerous groups, and all overseen by Chris, a much respected community worker of thirty years). But The Butterfly House needed a dedicated space - it couldn't have impinged on the existing community spaces which already meet a multitude of needs. 

From 9th-13th of September The Butterfly House plays host to a number of events. Community commissioning for Ground Up's next public art project (on Monday), The Fold Craft Group (Tuesday), Calico Community Choir (Tuesday), photo walk and performances by actors (Thursday) ... open sessions where people can view the exhibition and contribute their memories to the house (Wednesday and Friday).

It's gonna be a busy, crazy week - can't wait to see what the house looks like by Friday!

Kelly

Coal Clough

We went to one of Kelly Loughlin's photograph scanning sessions at Coal Clough library. She is collecting a database of old photos of the area for the Ground UP project, and meeting local people to chat about their memories/photos. The photographs are all being scanned, to create a database of archive images.

Kelly was mid discussion with one person when we arrived, and another arrived soon after... and I joined in the conversation, finding out amongst other things, about the Cornish miners who moved into the area in the 1870's. It was really interesting to listen to the stories/take part in the discussion, and I found out a lot about a part of Burnley's history that had previously been unknown to me.

Some of the photos were of Kelly's own family, as she grew up in the area... and it was great to find out more about some of the amazing old photographs.

Caroline and Dave, Huckleberry Films

What's in a name?

Workhouse records

Its all been about names this week.
Conversations in SW Burnley lead me to the archives in Preston, tracking the names of grandmothers and grandfathers.

Hapton Valley memorial

I walked through the cemetery on Rossendale Road, where names I'd seen on paper records and databases were now carved on stone or glittered on polished marble. Unlike the records generated by bureaucratic needs (the workhouse lists) these family and community acts of remembrance have a passion about them - they're very personal.

The Hapton Valley Colliery disaster in 1962 claimed the lives of 19 men, and left a further 20 seriously injured. Hapton Valley was known as a 'family pit' and the disaster hit hard at families in SW Burnley - The Stoops and Accrington Road areas.

The names of the men (and boys) lost in 1962 are also commemorated at St Marks Church on Rossendale Road, at Burnley Miners' Club and other sites. Annual services of remembrance are well attended by families and friends; a testament to the strength of community - the pit closed over 30 years ago.

Acts of commemoration are a significant thread in communities like SW Burnley. Honours boards, rolls of honour, plaques and monuments were a familiar presence in schools, factories, clubs and public buildings throughout the area - many listing the names of those lost in the First World War (many of these buildings are now also gone). What remains are the names themselves, carried forward.


Kelly