WFOHW has been collecting its own material since 1983 and has recordings made by others from the 1970s; there are now more than 1000 recordings. Though the Workshop is an independent voluntary group, since its inception it has had a close relationship with Waltham Forest Archives and Local Studies Library based at Chingford Assembly Hall, next to Chingford Library.
If you have recordings – perhaps from a project you ran, or from family or friends about aspects of life in Waltham Forest – we would be happy to take them into our archive and make them available for others to share. Contact us with details of what you have.
When we began we used some of the best and worst equipment available at the time, there are more than 400 audio cassettes in the archive which are of varying quality. We now record digitally and quality has certainly improved since 1983; most recent recordings have been digital on accession to the collection.
We have transcribed a lot of our recordings by AI transcription software: on good recordings with clear speech it is very accurate; on poor recordings much less so. In particular proper names are often wrong. Transcripts produced this way have NOT been proofed or checked for spelling or accuracy. You should check the AI transcript against the original audio and WFOHW accepts no liability for any errors, omissions or inaccuracies in these transcripts. Please let us know of any issues so we can correct them.
76
sweets,\ dentistry, diet and health, evacuation
13/01/1984
2020-05-12 12:05:46
77
mission to London, recording of church service
26/09/1983
2020-05-12 12:05:46
78
health, epilepsy, isolation, doctor fees, Connaught Hospital, family life, Chingford Hospital
20/10/1983
2020-05-12 12:05:46
79/1
Walthamstow & District tape recording society, Tottenham Outrage
c1959
2020-05-12 12:05:46
79/2
c1959
2020-05-12 12:05:46
80
High Street market and Tottenham Outrage (Russian anarchists), notes and story by Ray Dudley
c1959
2020-05-12 12:05:47
81
callers door to door, Salvationists, health, household routines, polio; Wireless in WW1 ??
08/04/1984
2020-05-12 12:05:47
82
foodstuffs, door to door deliveries, shops, WW1 experience, health, home baking & working. Film studios - Extra in a film (A184)
08/04/1984
2020-05-12 12:05:47
83
Warner's flats, market, husband engineer, High Street, domestic routine, evacuation, entertainment; Fish & chip shop James St WW1 (550)
08/04/1984
2020-05-12 12:05:47
84
Pet shop, Wood Street, shops, entertainment, eating habits
Tammy Ratoff
08/05/1984
2020-05-12 12:05:47
85
butchery trade, workhouse, home deliveries, Wood Street market, meals, shopping, orphanage
Robert Wilkinson
10/04/1984
2020-05-12 12:05:47
86
bakers; confectionary, apprentice in rag trade, household routine
12/06/1984
2020-05-12 12:05:47
87
general family recollections, one of 12 children, allotments, keeping chickens
2020-05-12 12:05:47
88
WW1, florist (Embersons - Hoe Street)and allotments in Walthamstow
Thelma Wolfe
20/05/1985
2020-05-12 12:05:47
89
WW1; Walthamstow; family, furniture trade, greengrocer, Lebus, pubs, drinking, war, relationship with father
Robert Wilkinson
01/04/1985
2020-05-12 12:05:47
91
Wood Street, pubs, drunkenness, foods, home life, chickens, sweets
Robert Wilkinson
28/05/1984
2020-05-12 12:05:47
92
catsmeat man; Walthamstow; trades, Wood Street, Jones butcher, WW1 Cuffley Zeppelin (A278)
12/06/1984
2020-05-12 12:05:47
94
????
10/09/1987
2020-05-12 12:05:47
95
dairying activities, Leyton
19/05/1985
2020-05-12 12:05:47
96
confectionery trade, home life, nannies, Jewish life
17/07/1984
2020-05-12 12:05:47
97
sweet shop Leyton, war work
04/08/1984
2020-05-12 12:05:47
98
Pubs; Tower; Chestnut Tree, Chequers, husband bookmaker
Teresa Burton
06/06/1905
2020-05-12 12:05:47
99
bakers; shop work, florists,\ pawnbrokers, war work, restaurant
01/10/1984
2020-05-12 12:05:47
This is a regularly updated database of recordings made by WFOHW since 1983, and including some other recordings made by Vestry House Museum since 1970.
If you would like to find out more about specific recordings, listen to them, or consult the paper records then contact us.
