About Memories Northampton Past

You may have heard of Mass Observation, it began in 1937 and went on until 1950s, it was intended to be a study of the every day lives of ordinary people in Britain. A team of volunteers kept diaries or responded to regular open-ended questionnaires sent by the organisers. The Mass Observation project has left a lasting record of the real lives of ordinary people at that time.

The members of the Northampton Past facebook group are interested in local history. We enjoy sharing photos, videos and memories associated with our town and it's people and this has prompted some of our members to write down their memories. Reading about the lives of others often helps to trigger our own memories and rekindle the sights sounds and smells of the past. This blog has been created in order to develop our own Northamptonshire version of 'mass observation. 

The blog has two aims 

1) to record and share the memories of present members, 

2) to keep an account of our present day lives as a lasting record for the 

    generations to come. 

Members are free to submit their memories on any subject they choose as long as it is connected to our town in some way. We will also pose two or three questions every couple of months and invite members to respond. eg What did you do on Sundays as a child? What do you do on a Sunday now? Describe your earliest school memories? Is education better today than in your childhood? There are countless possibilities, members can write as much or as little as they chose, they can even write anonymously with just basic details eg 'written by a woman who grew up in Kingsthorpe in 1950's'. There are no right or wrong answers, this is your history in your words, so please put pen to paper.

An email address for submissions will be available shortly.