Lyness Memories
12/11/2009
During her recent visit to Orkney, Rita Marsden took part in the Fortress Orkney project. Fortress Orkney is an oral history project run by Orkney Islands Council Museums & Heritage department. Web based exhibitions will tell some of the story of Orkney in WW2 through the use of recorded interviews illustrated with archive photographs and museum artefacts.
As well as being available online, anew exhibition is underway that will use the audio recordings to paint in personal histories of Lyness. Scapa Flow Visitor centre and Museum will house a permanent exhibition space that will be home to the audio resource. Recording equipment will be kept at the museum and visitors can continue to leave their own wartime recollections, making sure their first hand accounts are stored for future.
Rebecca Marr, Fortress Orkney coordinator, met with Rita to record her reading her wartime memoirs. She said “Rita is a sparkling personality and it was fascinating to hear her stories of Lyness, she animated the history of the place. Lyness had a real impact on her a s a young woman, and now she has had a real impact on Lyness through leaving her story for future visitors.”
Rita’s story featured in the Fereday project of previous Stromness Academy student, Lizzy Whitford., which became part of an exhibition at Lyness. Fortress Orkney has been working with current Stromness Academy pupils and several students’ work will feature on the website. Jude Callister, Assistant Custodian at Scapa Flow Vistor Centre and Museum, said “The work that the pupils have done on their history projects has been impressive, the students have enriched the project and we hope that they have, in turn, gained from our support in developing their oral history techniques.”
Further interviews about Flotta during the war will be for the community of Flotta and visitors to the island, and will be housed in the heritage centre there. They will form the online exhibition ‘Wartime Flotta’ illustrated by items from the heritage centre, and archive and contemporary photographs. This has been gathered together by the pupils and community of Flotta.
Fortress Orkney is part of a wider Museums Galleries Scotland initiative, Their Past Your Future Scotland, lead by Museums Galleries Scotland and funded by the Big Lottery Fund. The aim of Their Past Your Future Scotlandis to increase young people’s knowledge and understanding of the impact and legacy of the Second World War, and more recent conflicts. Spring next year will see the launch of the website, to see a sample visit www.RememberingScotlandAtWar.org.uk
As reported in:
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The Orcadian (12/11/2009)