Meet Linda
"Hi, I am Linda one of the Heritage Management MA students from Bath Spa University working on the Voices of the Assize Court Project.
I am very excited to be working on such an important project for Wiltshire Museum, which will lead onto the Assize Court building being transformed into a new home for the Museum over the coming years.
So far myself, and fellow student Helen, have been getting to know each member of staff, the structure of how things work at the museum and how the Assize Court project has developed. Its been fascinating to see the building itself and view architects plans to learn how it will be turned into a state of the art facility for Devizes and the wider community.
We took part in a one day oral history training course to learn about everything associated with planning and undertaking an oral history interview. This informative day was delivered by professional oral history advisor Padmini Broomfield who will be mentoring us as we begin our journey into the world of oral historians and get to appreciate the importance of saving peoples memories before they are lost forever. A recent call-out to members of the public has resulted in lots of eager local people wanting to tell us their stories and we can't wait to uncover a variety of narratives associated with the Assize Courts.
This week I shall be doing my first interview and will keep you posted next week on how I get on. Over the next few months Helen and I will also be keeping you up to date on the progress of the Assizes Voices Project."
Meet Helen
"Hello!
My name is Helen and I am a 22 year-old postgraduate student at Bath Spa University. I am studying Heritage Management to one day work within the Museum Sector.
Over the next few months, I will be delving into the oral histories surrounding the old assize court in Devizes. Myself and another volunteer Linda will be interviewing and transcribing people's stories of the building and their experiences within it. It is part of a bigger project aiming to repurpose the Assize Court into the museum space for the town.
Up until now, myself and Linda have been learning about the dynamics of Wiltshire Museum along with preparing to start our own interviews of the Assize's Voices. We have both taken part in some oral history training with Padmini Broomfield who we shall be working alongside during this project. I took part in a press release interview with BBC Radio Wiltshire. It was something I had never done before and although I was quite nervous, it was a great experience! We have also been able to have a supervised look around the Assize Court with our hard hats on!
Over the next week I will be helping to design the banners which will help advertise our project. Furthermore, I will be sitting in on an interview of one of the Assize's Voices.
I look forward to updating you with stories from the Assize Court, as well as any other work surrounding the project."
Find out more about the project and tell us your story..