The Warwick Oral History Network has recently been awarded just over £700 of Public Engagement Funding to support the Warwickshire Wildlife Trust 'Memories of Binley Colliery' oral history project. The project is being led by Daniel Loveard of WWT. The application was drawn up by the OHN's administrative assistant, Pierre Botcherby, a PhD candidate in the department. 

The aim is to interview local residents to collect memories of the colliery site as a working mine, in its derelict state post-closure, and in its current form as Claybrookes Marsh nature reserve. The project ties into WWT's larger National Heritage Lottery funded project for the Dunsmore Living Landscape, which aims to both restore the rural landscape (e.g. 300ha of historic woodland, 20km of historic hedgerows, 10 ponds, 20ha of grassland) and reconnect local people with the natural beauty on their doorstep. Tapping into residents' personal memories of the area is a key way of doing this. The funding will support the use of undergraduate volunteers from Warwick for archiving, interviewing, and transcribing, as well as contribute towards the costs of a community event in Binley upon completion of the project and the preparation/producing of a small booklet about the project findings.

 More information on the project can be found here: https://warwick.ac.uk/fac/arts/schoolforcross-facultystudies/networksandinitiatives/oralhistorynetwork/ongoingprojects/binleycolliery/

 More information about WWT/Dunsmore Living Landscape can be found here: https://www.exploredunsmore.org/the-fingerprint-of-man/

 Enquiries about the project can be directed either to Daniel (daniel.loveard@wkwt.org.uk) or Pierre (oralhistorynetwork@warwick.ac.uk)