West Street Digital History project moves forward

A digital photo booth for people to record their memories, a spoken word performance about the Bankside Mill Riot in 1834 and fascinating photos of the changing face of the neighbourhood around Crossbank and Summervale.

These were just some of the things on offer at the latest West St digital history project (now known as the The Towers: A history of Summervale and Crossbank) event, held on Tuesday 1 March at Barker St community centre.

We held this session with project partners Oldham Council, Oldham Coliseum, community group OL1 and Geeks for Social Change. We invited people from the West Street and Vale Drive neighbourhood and wider Oldham borough to come along to the session and tell us about their links with Crossbank and Summervale.

Their contributions are helping us create a digital history of the neighbourhood around West Street and Vale Drive.

Daniel Isherwood, FCHO Project and Partnership Officer says:

“We’ve started our development to build more than 80 new affordable homes in the area, but we don’t want to forget the history and people that have made this such a vibrant place to live, work and play.

“This project is all about bringing people together to build a unique picture of what life was like in the tower blocks and surrounding streets and developing the digital skills of local people and Oldham residents.

“The session at Barker St community centre was very positive, and I look forward to seeing the project progress over the coming months.”

If you have a connection with Crossbank and Summervale, get involved in the project! Please contact our Stronger Communities team.

The Towers: A history of Summervale and Crossbank project has received Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) and National Lottery funding, distributed by the Heritage Fund UK as part of their Digital Skills for Heritage initiative.