THE Folklore Library and Archive, working alongside Crediton Library, are running the Reminiscence Project to try and track down interesting old photos of Crediton and the surrounding area.

So far, the project has collected and made available a number of memories of the local area in audio format. 

These include recollections of life during World War Two, stories of farming and growing up in the countryside, as well as living through rapidly changing times. 

Local resident, Mr William Blight supplied an interesting black and white photograph of cadets marching in Crediton. 

He explained: “The photograph shows the cadets from Queen Elizabeth’s Cadets

School marching down through the town to the church on Empire Day in 1952, led by the cadet band.

“I think it was either for Empire Day or Remembrance Day that two cadets were sent to local village churches for the service.

“I went to Lapford Church and it still sends shivers down my spine to recall the eerie “Last Post” being played high in the church tower.”

He added: “I was boarding at Queen Elizabeth’s School from 1946 to 1954.”

Many people have albums and boxes of old photos lying around at home, which might not have seen the light of day for some time. 

This new project, funded in part by the Mid Devon Growing Communities Fund, is aiming to help to identify photos of the area that would be of historic interest. 

With permission, copies can be made of these photos and will be archived for future research. 

Digital copies can be given to the photo owners if they would like them.

A series of Saturday morning scanning sessions will be held in Crediton Library, where people can take their photos and copies can be made of anything of historic interest. 

The first of these will take place on Saturday, October 14, between 9.30am and 12 noon. 

For those that cannot make it to the library in person, volunteers can visit people at home to make copies of their photos and chat to them about what they depict. 

If people are interesting in volunteering to work on the project they can email: [email protected] for an information pack, or visit Crediton Library for details.

Recordings from earlier phases of the project can be found online at: www.folklorelibrary.com/crediton-library .