Capturing the history of Malmesbury

The Malmesbury Voices collection contains about 250 audio recordings of local residents telling stories about themselves, the town, surrounding villages and local events. Topics include leisure, business, education, the Carnivals, churches, farming and shops. A section added in 2020 is devoted to memories of the Linolite light fittings factory which existed in the town from 1941 to 1993.

The collection provides an insight into local life and language. Some of the early recordings are with people born in Malmesbury at the beginning of the 20th century.

The collection is accessible via touch screen in the Museum.

Samples from the collection:

Elmer – the First Man to Fly: Max Woosnam reads William of Malmesbury’s account of Elmer’s flight.
Malmesbury Carnival: Bob Browning describes one of his Carnival entries.
World War II: Bette Richards remembers tanks going through the town.
The Horse-drawn Fire Engine, 1926: Les Hinder remembers seeing it as a boy.
Town Crier

Here is a link to a Malmesbury Voices podcast on Malmesbury Community Radio.
Bill Reed introduces the Malmesbury Voices project and plays some choice examples.

CLICK HERE