Cornish Story seeks to explore the culture and heritage of Cornwall from the distant past down to the present day.
We work in association with the Institute of Cornish Studies at the University of Exeter to combine written articles with the multimedia resources of the Cornish Audio Visual Archive (CAVA) with the aim of creating informative studies relating to all aspects of Cornish culture. It is an accessible resource that complements a planned programme of books, pamphlets and educational courses.
In this way we aim to provide an educational platform that harnesses knowledge and creativity to promote the study of Cornwall both in the past and present. Apart from providing consultancy in oral and Cornish history we are also developing research projects and a public engagement programme in association with the Rescorla Centre in mid-Cornwall with the aim of ensuring that our activities are conducted in the spirit of democratic scholarship.
Living Archive
Cornish Story seeks to build on the work of CAVA by making our oral and visual culture available to the wider public through its dissemination and outreach programmes. CAVA was established in 2000 with the aim of harnessing the multimedia power of oral history, film, music and photography in order to create a greater understanding of Cornwall. Central to its vision was the development of a ‘Living Archive’ linked to ongoing research and education programmes. The cornerstone initiative of CAVA was ‘Cornish Braids’, which was an oral history programme that was supported by the Heritage Lottery Fund. This was a community-based study of Cornwall’s culture based on the themes of work, religion, politics, leisure and social relationships. Themed collections at Kresen Kernow in Redruth also cover such subjects as family traditions, Cornish Methodism, surfing and the Tamar Valley. The archive also welcomes donations of film and audio recordings from the general public.
New recordings are now being collected by the Cornish Story team in order to build on the legacy of CAVA. There will also be a programme of podcasts at our base at Rescorla in mid Cornwall exploring the synergy of music and oral history along with a new collection of audio recordings currently being established entitled Lev (Cornish for ‘voice’). We also provide training and support for groups and individuals interested in oral history and video interviewing. These sessions explore the subject of memory, practical use of equipment, the techniques needed to help you achieve the best quality recordings, planning an interview, asking questions and listening, issues of copyright and ethics, looking after your recording, and compiling summaries. Training can be provided at our base at Rescorla or at a venue of your own choice. We can also conduct oral history and video interviewing projects if requested and can provide additional support in areas like the editing and dissemination of audio-visual recordings.
For further details and/or to participate in the work of Cornish Story then we would like to hear from you. Please email us at cornishstudies@exeter.ac.uk or telephone. To access the earlier recordings of CAVA please visit Kresen Kernow in Redruth (www.kresenkernow.org)