--- title: "Farming Memories and Memories of the Sea: earlier work by our team | Discover More" description: "Islanders who farmed the land and worked the sea, from hour-long recordings to short clips anyone can dip into." url: https://discover-more.co.uk/projects/farming-and-sea-memories/ --- Before Discover More · 2017–2021 # Farming Memories and Memories of the Sea Islanders who farmed the land and worked the sea, from hour-long recordings to short clips anyone can dip into. Before Discover More was formed, Simon and Sally Perry were handed the finished recordings and asked what could be done with them. With Peter Fellows of Down to the Coast, they came up with short themed clips, then produced them, built both websites and built an Alexa skill for Farming Memories. ![Colour portrait of diver Martin Woodward looking out through the front window of a copper diving helmet, against a black background.](https://discover-more.co.uk/_astro/ms-martin-woodward.nXBSUgAz_mTLm1.webp) Diver Martin Woodward, one of the voices of Memories of the Sea. Portrait by Julian Winslow ## At a glance Led by Down to the Coast Landscape Partnership Scheme, with Carisbrooke Castle Museum Recorded 21 people from farming and 22 connected with the sea, from 2017 Clips Nearly 200 farming clips and nearly 300 from the sea, sorted by theme Launched Both websites, January 2021 Project sites [farmingmemories.com ↗](https://farmingmemories.com/) [memoriesofthesea.uk ↗](https://memoriesofthesea.uk/) ## The story The Down to the Coast Landscape Partnership Scheme wanted to record how the Isle of Wight’s farmed landscape and coast had changed since the Second World War, in the words of the people who worked them. Lisa Kerley of Carisbrooke Castle Museum and her band of volunteers recorded farming families in the East Wight from 2017, and people who worked the sea from 2019. Julian Winslow photographed them. The recordings came to our team with a simple question. What can you do with these that is interesting? Few people will sit through an oral history interview that runs for an hour or more. So, working with Peter Fellows of Down to the Coast, the team proposed cutting each interview into short clips of one to two minutes, sorted into themes from harvest and the County Show to lifeboats and boatbuilding. Each clip is a hook into the full recording. The two websites launched together in January 2021, with the full interviews, hundreds of clips and more than 800 photographs, most of them never seen before. For Farming Memories there is also an Amazon Alexa skill, which we understand was a first. It plays a new memory every morning, or all of them in a row. > “I woke up on Boxing Day to find that the snowflakes falling outside at 4 o’clock in the morning were as big as tea plates and I said that I would have to start to walk.” Christine Broom, who walked eight hours through the snow to milk a neighbour’s cows in the winter of 1962–63, and was named one of the country’s ‘Heroines of the Storm’ ## Some of the voices [Hear them on farmingmemories.com ↗](https://farmingmemories.com/) - ![Colour portrait of Christine Broom](https://discover-more.co.uk/_astro/fm-christine-broom.Dnu067UT_1a5ywT.webp) ### Christine Broom - ![Colour portrait of Geoff Phillips](https://discover-more.co.uk/_astro/fm-geoff-phillips.0daZ5_AX_10cUH0.webp) ### Geoff Phillips - ![Colour portrait of Arthur Mew](https://discover-more.co.uk/_astro/fm-arthur-mew.DaN6a2aM_2mOyPC.webp) ### Arthur Mew - ![Colour portrait of Sam Biles](https://discover-more.co.uk/_astro/fm-sam-biles.nzGe3t96_2lkOLM.webp) ### Sam Biles Portraits by Julian Winslow ## From the archive ![Sepia photograph of a haymaking scene, with two horses, a loaded hay wagon, three men and three girls holding their tools.](https://discover-more.co.uk/_astro/fm-haymaking.CSMxSGXS_17m3X6.webp) Haymaking. Carisbrooke Castle Museum ![Black-and-white photograph of a farmer driving a large flock of sheep along a hedged lane.](https://discover-more.co.uk/_astro/fm-sheep-apse-heath.8QOu55nz_HsY2F.webp) Driving sheep down a road near Apse Heath. Carisbrooke Castle Museum ![Black-and-white photograph of a busy livestock market in a town square, with pens of animals and shops behind.](https://discover-more.co.uk/_astro/fm-st-james-square.BxYF5wDY_12KEQs.webp) Market day in St James’ Square, Newport. Carisbrooke Castle Museum ![Old photograph of a man in a hat and coat and a small girl standing beside a bullock, in front of a wooden barn.](https://discover-more.co.uk/_astro/fm-gilten-market.BofTgiDc_Z10uS0k.webp) Sam Biles’s grandfather and aunt at Gilten Market, 1932. Lent by Sam Biles ## What the project made - Two websites, farmingmemories.com and memoriesofthesea.uk, with full interviews, themed clips and photographs - An Amazon Alexa skill for Farming Memories, playing a new memory each morning or all of them in a row, which we understand was a first - Portraits of every interviewee by Julian Winslow - More than 800 historic photographs, lent by museums, heritage centres and the interviewees ### A few of the clips - **Christine Broom**: on the winter of ’62–’63 - **Peggy Jolliffe**: on Newport Creameries - **Arthur Mew**: on the tank during the War - **Sandra Piggot**: on the baler [Listen on farmingmemories.com ↗](https://farmingmemories.com/)[Listen on memoriesofthesea.uk ↗](https://memoriesofthesea.uk/) ### Made for Down to the Coast Landscape Partnership Scheme ### Funded by The National Lottery Heritage Fund, through the Down to the Coast Landscape Partnership Scheme. ### Partners - Down to the Coast Landscape Partnership Scheme - Carisbrooke Castle Museum - Isle of Wight Council Heritage Service - Classic Boat Museum - East Cowes Heritage Centre - Bembridge Heritage Centre - RNLI ## Credits Peter Fellows Project lead, Down to the Coast Lisa Kerley and volunteers, Carisbrooke Castle Museum Oral history interviews Julian Winslow Portraits Simon Perry Clip concept with Peter Fellows, audio clips, both websites and the Farming Memories Alexa skill Sally Perry Project Producer, handling and preparing all assets for the website, including audio clips Meeja’s Oral History Engine Manages and displays the interviews, clips and photographs This project was made before Discover More CIC was formed. Recordings and photographs belong to the project and the people who lent them, and are shown here with credit. ## Have a story like this? We’d like to hear about the places, jobs and communities the Island and the Solent shouldn’t forget. [Get in touch](https://discover-more.co.uk/contact/) [← All projects](https://discover-more.co.uk/projects/)