Galleywood listening bench

Galleywood Heritage Centre

Listening bench at the Galleywood Heritage Centre

New audio now on the listening bench installed in Galleywood, Essex!

The recordings on the bench were selected from recordings made by the Galleywood Historical Society’s Oral History Project, which aims to capture memories of village life in the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s. The clips cover a range of aspects of village life and were updated in June 2019. For more information about the oral history interviews, see Essex Archives Online (Acc. SA868).

Location of the bench in Galleywood

The bench is located at the Galleywood Heritage Centre, in the field opposite the main entrance to the Centre.

The bench recordings were chosen and put together by the Galleywood History Society, who also recorded the interviews. The Galleywood Historical Society was founded in 1998 and aims to promote interest in the history of Galleywood and its surrounding areas.  It holds an annual programme of four talks by invited and local speakers and publishes a quarterly newsletter ,‘Past Times’, containing articles of local historical interest.  For more information visit their website.

Audio clips on this bench

Ann Chivers' grandfather Owie Day (Button A Clip 1)

Ann Chivers describes her grandfather’s work for the Essex Chronicle and as a bookie’s runner.

Diana Blackwood's work at the Ingatestone Post Office (Button A Clip 2)

Diana Blackwood describes her work sorting post at the Post Office in Ingatestone – and how she gained a good grasp of UK geography.

Jenny Leadbeater recalls a notable village character (Button A Clip 3)

Jenny Leadbeater shares her memories of Mrs Anderson, a memorable village character.

Diana Blackwood shares some memories of school (Button B Clip 1).

Diana Blackwood describes her childhood schooling in Galleywood, including memorable teachers and the dreaded punishment book.

Gary Reeve describes his paper rounds in Galleywood (Button B Clip 2)

Gary Reeve shares his memories of doing paper rounds in the village.

The demolition of flats in Homemead (Button B Clip 3)

Lorraine Miller describes the demolition of flats in Homemead.

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