Telling Our Stories, Finding Our Roots is a community heritage and oral history project focused on diverse and multicultural histories. It explores the stories, memories and hidden histories of Devon’s towns and cities – past and present.
Through building an archive of oral history interviews, Telling Our Stories aims to preserve, share and celebrate the voices, stories and heritage of the wide range of people who live in Devon today, ensuring that the voices we listen to today and in the future are more diverse and more inclusive than the ones we’ve heard before.
To date, the project has gathered histories and contemporary stories from 3 towns and 1 city: Exeter (2012-13), Bideford (2020), Okehampton (2020) and Tiverton (2020).
The project is community-led and community-powered, supported throughout by teams of local volunteers, and featuring the voices and contributions of many community participants.
Telling Our Stories is a Devon Development Education project, supported by the National Lottery Heritage Fund. Public-facing activity has been made possible thanks to heritage partners Tiverton Museum of Mid Devon Life, The Museum of Dartmoor Life, The Burton at Bideford, and the Royal Albert Memorial Museum (2012 – 2013).
Telling Our Stories has engaged with 3 towns and 1 city across Mid and North Devon.
We have worked in Exeter (2012 – 2013); Bideford (2019 – 2020), Okehampton (2019 – 2020) and Tiverton (2019 – 2020).
These towns and cities are each very different. Exeter is the county’s capital; Tiverton is a centre of industry / manufacturing; Bideford is a port town; and Okehampton is an agricultural market town on the edge of Dartmoor.
We're very excited to announce our exhibitions are getting back on their feet after the lockdown. Read below for an update on each town. Tiverton The exhibition at the Tiverton Museum of Mid Devon Life will be open until Monday 21st December 2020. Okehampton We aim to...
November Lockdown announcement We are sad to announce that due to the impending national lockdown, we will be pausing our plans for the Telling Our Stories exhibitions. Please read on for an update for each town. Tiverton The exhibition at the Tiverton Museum of Mid...
Due to the impact of the Coronavirus, we have taken the difficult but necessary decision to postpone the Telling Our Stories, Finding Our Roots project for the next two months (April and May 2020). We are intending to resume work in June 2020, providing the national...
We're very excited to announce our exhibitions are getting back on their feet after the lockdown. Read below for an update on each town. Tiverton The exhibition at the Tiverton Museum of Mid Devon Life will be open until Monday 21st December 2020. Okehampton We aim to...
November Lockdown announcement We are sad to announce that due to the impending national lockdown, we will be pausing our plans for the Telling Our Stories exhibitions. Please read on for an update for each town. Tiverton The exhibition at the Tiverton Museum of Mid...
Join us on Zoom to hear from specialist researchers about the Polish Navy's links to Okehampton during the Second World War. During this digital event, one of TOSFOR's research groups will introduce the case of the Polish Naval Camp and Resettlement Centre: an...
Join us on Zoom for a talk exploring diversity in Tiverton's history from its early medieval origins to later visitors and settlers. Tiverton’s history is deep and broad, taking in stories of refugees, ex slaves, entrepreneurs, farmworkers, entertainers and soldiers....
We are very excited to be holding the first of our three project exhibitions: Telling Our Stories: Tiverton. Where: Tiverton Museum of Mid Devon Life, Becks Square, Tiverton EX16 6PJ When: 1st - 31st October 2020. Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays, 11 am - 4 pm (please...
Join us on Zoom to hear from specialist researchers about the Polish Navy's links to Okehampton during the Second World War. During this digital event, one of TOSFOR's research groups will introduce the case of the Polish Naval Camp and Resettlement Centre: an...
Join us on Zoom for a talk exploring diversity in Tiverton's history from its early medieval origins to later visitors and settlers. Tiverton’s history is deep and broad, taking in stories of refugees, ex slaves, entrepreneurs, farmworkers, entertainers and soldiers....