Fieldworker View

Tania Gardner

Tania Gardner from Kirkcudbright reflects on her experience of conducting fieldwork:

‘I have interviewed ten people in Kirkcudbright since the beginning of this project.  I am always extremely nervous before the interview, despite being well prepared with the protocol and the outline of questions I wish to ask. I have had to reassure and bolster the confidence of each of them as they are anxious and uncertain of what I could possibly want to know of their life which is of any importance. Once the interview is underway I have found that we relax and enjoy the opportunity to "remember ".

Each and every interviewee has said at the end that they have really enjoyed sharing their memories and that other memories have been sparked during the conversation. I have been so privileged to hear the stories and to have been trusted with their memories. I hope I help them to realise the importance of keeping the next generation informed of their local history through the actual voices of the older generation. I certainly have learnt a great deal about "my town" from all of these generous people. ‘

Tania Gardner

Kirkcudbright

Collin Calling!

After the Winter holiday break new activity began in January with a a presentation of some of our findings to the Collin Social Club on Tuesday 21 January 2014. 

At a well attended meeting, we outlined the aims and objectives of our Study and demonstrated the range of material being generated by playing some clips form interviews conducted. This was an enjoyable occasion as the audience members made interesting comments about the clips played and provided information which added to the material already collected. In fact, such was the level of interest that a number of people agreed to provide interviews and a new volunteer fieldworker was recruited.  

This direct community engagement was productive for the Study and for the people of Collin. We intend to repeat this exercise across Dumfries and Galloway as the Study continues.