This is me accepting the award last week for the Hayle Churks app I created and the memories from the Hayle Oral History Project that it grew out of.  I know I look incredibly goofy but I was just so very happy that Hayle won!  This is what the Collections Trust said, 'Hayle Oral History Project won the Collections on a Budget Award and its £500 prize, for its Hayle Churcks mobile phone app. The judges said it was “a really commendable project, and a very good example of what can be achieved with collections on a limited budget”.  
 Thank you again all who helped win this for Hayle - all of you who were interviewed and shared your memories and let us or Hayle Community Archive scan your photos. Thank you to all Hayle Oral History Project (HOHP) volunteers who made sure these memories were captured through interviews then transcribed, edited etc..  Thank you to Heritage Lottery Fund for providing the funding for the project and my post as coordinator for the original Hayle Oral history Project 2009 - 2011 and for the All Our Voices fund that paid for publishing etc.. of the app in December 2013.  Thank you also to our pals at Hayle Archive, Cornish Record Library, Cornwall Council & other local and national archives (with a special mention to Imperial War Museum) for all your support with providing photos and maps and other local organisations such as Harvey's Foundry Trust, Hayle Day Care Centre, Cornish Mining World Heritage Site, Hayle Town Council etc... for all your support in different ways.  And thank you to those involved in the app, especially for the AppFurnace software that I used to make the app http://appfurnace.com/ and the expertise and support by the staff at Calvium.  For more info about the award please look at: http://www.collectionstrust.org.uk/ct-awards/2014.The photo was taken by Greg Sigston.

WE WON the Collections Trust award - Collection on a Budget, which is a nice way of saying well done for lots of hard work with very very little money.  The app had funding for £6,000.  That cannot be done without hard work and good friends! Thank you to all the people who were originally interviewed by the Hayle Oral History Project, for all those that helped gather memories/ interviews and for all the archives as well as funding from Heritage Lottery Fund and some local funding from Hayle Town Council, The Cornish Mining World Heritage Site, Harveys Foundry Trust and Cornwall Council. To turn the app into an app - the bit that really won, thank you to Heritage Lottery Fund in partnership with Falmouth University as well as ESF for funding my PhD while I did the app & research at Falmouth. Here's the link about the winners & event and I will try to post photos soon when I receive them.  http://www.collectionstrust.org.uk/ct-awards/2014

Say what you love about Hayle and what you wish could change in this very short survey (Hayle Neighbourhood Plan website and then the surveys tab or just link here ).  Please complete it before July 22nd 2014 to get your voice heard.  Information about the neighbourhood plan is on the website and you may also like to participate through the Facebook page.  You can do the survey if you live in Hayle, work in Hayle, visit Hayle, come from Hayle, want to return to Hayle, (making sure there is affordable housing and/ or affordable land to build your own house is something the Hayle Neighbourhood Plan could make happen of you ask for it!).
The photo is someone listening to Hayle Churks app on another lovely day! It's free on iTunes. 

The Hayle Churks app (and Hayle Oral History Project memory collection) has been shortlisted for an award- Whoopee! 

CT Awards shortlists announced prior to winners presentation at OpenCulture

Shortlists have just been announced for five Collections Trust Awards for excellence in collections management. The winners will be revealed during a special presentation at the OpenCulture 2014 conference reception at the Kia Oval in London on Wednesday 25 June.
On the shortlist for the Collections Practice Award are Bristol Museums, Galleries and Archives, Museum of London, and the Museum of English Rural Life and Reading Museum, while for the Participatory Practice Award the shortlist comprises Woodhorn, Bede’s World Museum, and the Public Catalogue Foundation.
For the Collections on a Budget Award those on the shortlist are The Museum of Carpet, Hayle Oral History Project, and Corby Borough Council, while for the Enterprise in Museums it is Glasgow Women’s Library and Tyne & Wear Archives & Museums.
The new Young Collections Professional Award will be contested on the night by Greta Bertram and Felicity McWilliams of the Museum of English Rural Life and Reading Museum; Jenny Webb of The Lightbox; and Dayna Woolbright and Wayne Holland of Norfolk Museums Service. The Collections Manager of the Year Award will be announced on the night.
This year’s judging panel is Nick Merriman, Director, Manchester Museum, and Chair, Collections Trust; Scott Furlong, Director, Acquisitions, Exports, Loans and Collections, Arts Council England; Heather Caven, Head of Collections Services at National Museums Scotland; and Matthew Caines, Editor of the Guardian Culture Professionals Network. Chair of the judges’ panel is Nick Poole, CEO of Collections Trust.
The Collections Trust Awards represent the pinnacle of recognition for collections professionals. Further details are available online at www.collectionslink.org.uk/ct-awards.

225 app downloads by end of April 2014 - have you downloaded yet? 

FREE Hayle Churks mobile phone app on iTunes

Get an insight into those who lived & worked in Hayle before by walking where they walked.  Experience another Hayle by hearing stories spoken in their words and accents.

The Hayle Churks iPhone app is available to download now FREE from iTunes. The app, created by Lucy Frears, uses Hayle Oral History Project recorded memories plus photos and maps from many local and international archives such as Hayle Community Archive, Cornish Studies Library and Imperial War Museum. Made to experience while walking around Hayle with iPhone and headphones (GPS triggers the sound and images as you move), there is also a ‘listen at home’ mode so that people can access the memories/ photos whether they are in Hayle or not on iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch.  Download from iTunes here. Please review it on iTunes and you may want to chat about it or share your memories, photos and films on Facebook , Twitter or historypin. As it was made as part of PhD research your comments are very welcome and useful.

The Hayle Churks app is a walk through stories rather than a guided tour so be prepared to piece together the evidence you are given – stories, information on screen & archive photos plus clues in the physical landscape.

 The app is partly funded by a Heritage Lottery Fund All Our Stories grant in partnership with Falmouth University and has been made during an ESF supported PhD research degree.

The footpaths that were closed but part of the app trail (from the Grameen to the station and the ramp from Clifton Terrace to King George V Walk) are now open - hurrah!

'Hayle Churks' app FREE & published on iTunes

‘appy New Year

The ‘Hayle Churks’ mobile phone app is published on iTunes and completely FREE.  Created by Lucy Frears to play memories and show archive pictures automatically while walking around a Hayle route, there is also a manual feature on the published app, so that media can be heard and played from any location in Cornwall, Britain or the world.

“The app is an abstract experience that involves walking through people’s memories from different decades.  The walker uses the information they have: their location, the story, archive pictures and historical facts on the map to try to piece together the clues. The app reveals and locates experiences from Hayle’s past and present which may nudge us to think about the future of the town and our own legacy,” says Lucy.  “At a time when town council’s are being given planning powers, it’s important to be reminded about the past significance of land that can, in Hayle’s case, look derelict but is historically important.’  

The app uses many memories recorded by Hayle Oral History Project plus archive pictures from international, national and local archives but especially Hayle Community Archive’s scanned images from personal collections.  ‘Hayle Churks’ is partly funded by a Heritage Lottery Fund’s All Our Stories grant and is part of Lucy Frears’ doctoral research at Falmouth University. 

“The Hayle Churks app could be described as a love letter to Hayle but it’s not just sentimental nostalgia or a PR exercise.  As well as happy stories and funny stores, the app reveals terrible consequences of personal and public decisions, mistakes and wrongdoing that, perhaps, we can learn from. It’s certainly not simply promoting a ‘good old days’ point of view about the past.”

In addition to sound effects recorded by Frears ranging from birds in Paradise Park to sounds on the beach and underwater recording experiments, there are songs by Falmouth based musician Thirty Pounds of Bone and Hayle-born folk singer Joff Ryan, music composed by Philip Reeder and sounds begged and borrowed from others, such as whale and dolphin recordings by a Plymouth-based friend, Thom Green. 

The app was made using the AppFurnace app-making toolkit developed in Bristol and has been designed for iPhones with cost preventing publishing for Android and windows smart phones at present.  An iPad or iPod touch can be used to experience the manual ‘listen at home’ setting but for those without access to these, Frears will continue to upload many clips and photos to the ‘Hayle Churks’ historypin website to increase access.

The app walking route can be split into short manageable sections or walked in one go for approximately two hours starting from the Hayle Heritage Centre gate in Foundry Square.  Headphones are recommended for the full sound experience although some testers reported that listening and walking at the same time was tricky during the public trials set-up in March, August and September 2013 to gain feedback. Changes were made to the app in response to the feedback before publishing. 

“One of my regrets is that I had to divert the route away from Copperhouse as I don’t have enough stories about the Cornish Copper Company, the original Hayle foundry,” says Frears.  

Cornish Copper Company (CCC) closed before Harvey’s and long before living memory.   CCC records have disappeared, as have many important buildings in the Copperhouse area. 

“This means that the app contains more about Harvey’s, which already dominates recent histories of the town and possibly changes the emphasis in the story of the thirty year war between the foundries that split the town. If anyone has any family stories passed down about CCC I’d love to hear them.”

For more information look for ‘Hayle Churks’ on iTunes and historypin, ‘Hayle History’ on Facebook or email hayle.history@btconnect.com.

Please let me know your reason/ reasons for not trying the free Hayle Churks mobile phone app by using this questionnaire

You're interested in Hayle History and Hayle memories/ oral history recordings so I would really like to know what your reasons are for not trying the mobile phone app so that I can work out what is preventing people's participation and hopefully come up with some solutions! Please click on this link to the questionnaire or you can email me or message me on the Hayle History Facebook page or leave a comment as the suggested reasons are given below in this post. 

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/12J81Em802JO8as8oDJpOSJlUz9QCaIT3sZN5fnp968I/viewform
The questions asked are these:

Why aren't you testing the free Hayle Churks app

Please select the reason or reasons why you are not testing the free Hayle Churks mobile phone app or write your own reason in the box further down

- I don't have an iPhone or an Android smart phone that has been mentioned on the Facebook page as working.
- I don't have headphones
- I don't have a splitter so that someone can plug their headphones in to my phone and share the experience & walk with me.
- Even if an iPhone was loaned to me I wouldn't do it as I feel insecure about the technology and my ability.
- Even if I was loaned an iphone I would be worried that I'd break the phone.
- The walk can take up to two hours and, even though I know I don't have to do all of it in one go or even finish it, I don't have that time.
- I don't want to do it alone and no one I know is interested.
- I do want to do it but I don't like the idea of walking with headphones, they are uncomfortable.
- I do want to do it but I don't like the idea of wearing headphones and walking as I may get disorientated.
- I do want to do it but I don't like the idea of walking with headphones because I'd feel conspicuous/ self-conscious.
- I am worried I'll look stupid walking around.
- I will wait until it's published & the 'listen at home' feature is there so I can listen to it while not walking.
- I'll wait until it's published for iPhones on iTunes and will go for the walk then. I'm not interested in helping to test it.
- I don't really understand what it is.
- I like factual tours and this has memories of Hayle people/ stories and that's not my taste.
- I don't like the process, I have to message or email to get the download details and other things like signing consent forms or having to give feedback.
- I am interested but find walking difficult
- I have hearing problems and think it may be difficult to get the right volume.
- I have health issues that make being away from home difficult.
- I have bad eyesight and am worried I won't be able to see information on the phone screen

Please explain in your own words why you've decided not to test the app now

Do you live in Hayle?

Yes, I live in Hayle
No, I don't live in Hayle
I live in a village near Hayle

Thank you. That would be super helpful. x

We've got a lot of music in the app - let's start with the most local, Hayle boy Joff Ryan

Joff Ryan, a Hayle boy, wrote this song about his dad's love for his boat, the Nancy Lee & his trips on the boat with his dad.  Joff recorded it while playing guitar with wife Jill on melodeon. 

Hayle Harbour

My father was a farmer, he tilled the soil all his life
He loved my mother but had another love in his life

She took him away, took him away, took him away

Half-tide in Hayle harbour, Nancy Lee lies in the sun
Under the viaduct she lies under the gaze of everyone

She took him away....

Row out of Penpol Creek to where the water is deep and wide
Raise the jib and raise the main and pull the tiller to your side

And bear away....

Now we're sailing heeling over on a starboard tack
Kindrance Quay is fast approaching, Carnsew Pool is at our back
Ready about ... ready about lee ho, ready about lee ho

Port tack to Couch's ferry, leave the weir and the works astern
Head for the breakers on the Bar but there's danger here we learn

Then you're out in the Bay... out in the Bay, St. Ives Bay

Just a boy was I, out sailing with his dad,
Spinning mackeral for the pot, no better time was ever had

She took us away.... took us away... took us away

He's flying over Hayle Harbour in his dreams I know
He's flying over Hayle Harbour

Hayle Churks App testing download info

If you'd like to test the free Hayle Churks app please could you email me at: hayle[dot]history[at]btconnect[dot]com and I'll email you the download instructions.  I will only use your email to send you the download details and the questionnaire. 
To try out the app you need to have an iPhone.  I know that's annoying but it's a large app & android phones have less memory BUT it should work on an iPad and also possibly on a new/ latest model of Android phone. I'd love to know which android phone you try it on and whether it works well! 
If not having the right device is a problem email me or pop in & see me at Hayle Heritage Centre during its opening on Friday 30th August & Saturday 31st August. 
There are also notes about the app on the Hayle History Facebook page. 
A note about the app -

a.    The app is not a tour, it’s a walk that reveals stories & memories from this landscape that can be deeply personal rather than full of historical detail & facts.  

b.   The app is not really suitable for young children.  Some stories include adult themes & there are a couple of words that some people may find offensive. 

The app starts at the entrance (or inside) Hayle Heritage Centre in Foundry

 and goes along Penpol Terrace, over the old bridge, along North Quay, skirts around the edge of the Towans & old power station, back along North Quay, along King George V walk, Black Road, Commercial Road back to the bridge.  It may take around two hours or more or less, dependng on your speed & how much you like to dawdle or look at the photos!  Clearly you don't have to do it all at once and there are lots of cafes (along Penpol Terrace & Commercial Road) as well as a well positioned one by the swimming pool between North Quay & King George V Walk!   

Thank you

Needed please, testers for a new app from Sunday 25th August.   You will need to come to Hayle (St. Ives Bay) and move/ walk around. I really need you to fill out a questionnaire afterwards for my PhD research please.    The app uses memories, music & images to reveal layers of Hayle's history.  Contact Lucy hayle.history [AT] btconnect.com if you're interested - Please tell other people who are interested. The app has been made for iPhones but also works on iPads.  This test phase before publishing should also work on (some) NEW android phones.  Instructions for download will appear on the blog: http://hayletaleshome.blogspot.co.uk/ and Hayle History on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Hayle-History/175040162568273 or instructions are in Hayle Heritage Centre from 30th August when it opens http://www.hayleheritagecentre.org.uk/. 

If you come to Hayle Heritage Centre on Saturday 31st August as well as getting my help with downloading, you will also be able to see the Hayle Interactive Story Machine in action - an adapted version of Justin Marshall's memory box with design & etching input from Daniel Metcalfe in Makernow. You will be able to select a place in Hayle & record your story that is connected to that location. 

AND – I gave people the opportunity to ask Hayle people and visitors to Hayle a question, come to see what they asked, try to answer the questions if you can or ask you own questions or participate on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/pages/Hayle-History/175040162568273

Thank you. 

Hayle Interactive Story Machine at Hayle Heritage Centre on Saturday 31st August

There are a few things to get involved in at the Hayle Heritage Centre opening involving oral histories/ us! http://www.hayleheritagecentre.org.uk/ The Churks iPhone app will be available to try. Keep an eye here on how to download it before you come to the centre over your wifi while comfy at home. Lucy will be in the Hayle Heritage Centre all day on Saturday 31st August to help you with app questions/ downloading etc.. The app will be on iTunes from 2014 but right now it's a test edition and you will need to download the free AppFurnace Player from iTunes to download it (which is an easy process). You will need to walk to experience the app - it starts in Foundry Square by the Hayle Heritage Centre, goes down Penpol Terrace and involves going over the bridge and along North Quay and King George V Memorial Walk. Of course you can do bits at a time/ different days. Lucy will also have the Hayle Interactive Story Machine in Hayle Heritage Centre on Saturday 31st August to share with you! You will be asked to choose a place in Hayle that has a special personal significance to you. You will then select a pin and place it in the Hayle map to show where your story is located. You will then record your story associated with the place, the location you chose to place your pin. And, there will also be a way to see what questions people asked Hayle residents and those visiting Hayle https://www.facebook.com/pages/Hayle-History/175040162568273. You have the opportunity to give your answers and to ask other questions.

NEW mobile phone app to try in August in Hayle

Coming to the launch of the Hayle Heritage Centre in John Harvey House?  It opens to all on 30th August 2013.  If you're coming please try to bring an iPhone or iPad and some headphones (the ones that cover your ears are the best kind)

to try an app that takes place mostly around North Quay and King George V Walk by Copperhouse Pool.  You will be helped with the download process when you come into the NEW centre!!  There may also be an interactive exhibit that will record your answer to a question about Hayle & you! 

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Hayle-History/175040162568273 

Got a question you want to ask people in Hayle?

If you had the chance to ask the people of Hayle & those visiting Hayle a question what would it be?

It could be a  question that encourages the telling of a story,  a question that taps into passionate feelings of the place, a question that could lead onto something else ....?

Could all ages answer your question?

Take your chance to propose a question by suggesting one to me which will be put in the bag to be considered.  Please reply by:  Friday August 10^th and maybe your question will be included in the Hayle Heritage Centre opening at the end of August.

Please pass onto others who may want to participate.

Notes on how to do oral history recordings or what to expect

Want to know how to do oral history recordings? Follow this link to some free advice. http://www.indiana.edu/~cshm/techniques.html

Italian PoWs in St. Erth

Recognise this Italian Prisoner of War based in St Erth? Was he the one that rescued the little girl from the river? We are looking for memories, photos, documents and mementos from the Italian and German PoWs that were based in St Erth during and after the war. Please call 01736 753962 and leave a message with your number, or email to hayle.history@btconnect.com. We are all volunteers so may not be able to to respond immediately.

New copies of "Churks, Clidgy & Doodle-Dashers. Hayle Tales and Trails" for sale & swap your original copy if it has loose pages

"The book is brilliant. It is a combination of cleverly edited bite-sized reportage with really interesting photos that completely hooked me. You gave me access to [gran's] world."
Claire Grove, BBC Drama Senior Producer

"A new and exciting picture of Hayle that would be hard to beat - splendid job"
Professor Charles Thomas, CBE FSA

"From Winnie Bassett's introduction, through stories of courting and home life, war time, walks and history, it is full of charm. Everyone who loves Hayle should read it."
John Bennett, Hayle Mayor

PLEASE CLICK HERE to download and read the "Clurks, Clidgy & Doodle-Dashers - Hayle Tales & Trails" PDF Book...

[You may need Adobe Reader to view this book]

We are selling the second edition of "Churks, Clidgy & Doodle-Dashers. Hayle Tales and Trails" for a subsidised, community friendly price of £5. The multimedia disc is available for £3. All proceeds go back into supporting the Hayle Oral History Project and Hayle Community Archive, both are voluntary organisations. The book is available to view free online see the link above.

The book contains archive photos, memories, expert articles and new historical walks around the Hayle area including St. Erth, the Dynamite Works, Gwithian Tin Streams and Godrevy. The multimedia disc contains archive film footage, animations created using oral history recordings, lots of memories to listen to and some full transcriptions of interviews to read.

Books are available now at:
Hayle Community Archive: Archive open hours, 10am to 1pm on Tuesday and Thursdays. Address - Brewery Office, 1 Sea Lane, Hayle, TR27 4DU (behind the Cornish Arms),
tel: 01736 753962. Free street parking outside or paid car park nearby
Hayle Library: 9.30 am - 5 pm Mon/Tues/Weds/Fri and 10.00 am to 1 pm on Saturday. Address - Commerical Road, Hayle TR27 4DE. Small free car park on left of the library, paid car park on the right of the library.
Here on our blog to look at free: You can look at the whole book online if you follow the link above. The Films are on this page (further down) and the audio is on the media page of this blog (see link at top of page). You will need Adobe reader to see the book but that, and the book, are free to download - although it will be cheaper to buy a book than print it out at home! The maps are available to download separately from the top right of this page. We hope you enjoy the walks.

There has been an issue with loose pages in some of the books in the first print. Our lovely printer has replaced damaged copies for us and we will do a direct swap with copies that have loose pages for a new one at Hayle Archive 10am to 1pm Tuesdays and Thursdays or at Hayle Library during opening hours. Please remove the DVD from the back of your original copy and keep it. If you don't live near-by and you need to be sent a copy of the book we will charge £5 packing and postage.

As funding for the Hayle Oral History Project is now over it, like the Hayle Community Archive, is run only by volunteers.

Holiday Chalets at Gwithian Archive Film

Archive film provided by the Pascoe family

A Series of Short Animation Films about Hayle & its People

Andy Wyatt's BA Animation 1st year students from University College Falmouth used audio recorded by the Hayle Oral History Project to make these 6 short films (total 7 minutes 6 seconds). The films can be watched separately further down this page.

Hayle Regatta - a short animation film

Using archive photos and audio recordings of memories of Hayle Regatta, children from Bodriggy, Connor Downs, Gwinear, Penpol & Leedstown schools made this film in workshops with Lizzie Black and Alessandra Ausenda at Hayle Library.