Arundel Museum's plea for public's memories

Arundel Museum, currently housed in a temporary accommodation awaiting a much-brighter future, is planning for that future by amassing a wealth of World War Two oral testimony.

Museum volunteers have embarked on a major project from which should emerge a clear picture of just what it was like to live in the town between 1939-53.

The two dates are key: the start point is the first year of the war; the end point is the year of the Coronation. In between times, the world changed immeasurably - and Arundel with it.

One of the fascinations of the project will be to determine just how the face of Arundel was altered.

As Roger Halls, who is co-ordinating the project, says, Arundel has a long history of being at the centre of things - "with the Norman invasion, the setting up of the castle, the coming of a dukely family, the Civil War'¦"

The new oral history project, a follow-up to Arundel Voices 1910-45, published in 2000, will show how Arundel fared in those crucial central years of the 20th century - as seen through the eyes of the people who lived through it.

Roger himself was a young lad in London at the time - a boy typically without a sense of danger: "You expected to be bombed and to bomb them back. You went to bed saying 'Wake me up if there is an air raid!'"

Roger came to Arundel in the early 1970s and has certainly seen it change since then, with the disappearance of Arundel-made clothing and Arundel-made footwear as just two examples.

Today perhaps you are less of an outsider if you come into the town; but things were certainly different just after the war. One testimony already gathered tells of one woman's arrival in Arundel in 1947.

Museum volunteers are hoping to use the accounts they record as part of the new museum which could possibly be up and running within three or four years if all goes well.

"We would like to listen to anyone who lived in the area concerned, within five miles of Arundel town centre, during those years. Possible areas of interest are childhood memories, working memories on for example the railways, the castle, fire service, farming, the Home Guard, WVS, or any other.

"We need to discover all we can before the information is lost. We're willing to travel a reasonable distance to meet volunteers at a place of their choosing. A team of volunteer interviewers, transcribers and technical adviser are working towards this. Interviews will be recorded on state-of-the-art digital equipment."

Arundel Museum Society was founded in 1963. The museum is now housed in temporary accommodation after it had to quit its 18th century townhouse premises in the High Street when the lease expired.

A project development grant from Heritage Lottery Fund has already been given, and the society is currently preparing for the second round of its HLF application for funding.

A site for the new museum has been made available by Angmering Park Estate Trust and Norfolk Estate Trust, and planning permission has been obtained for a modern new building on the site of the present St Nicolas Hall by the riverside at Arundel.

A total of 500,000 is needed to fill the gap between HLF's contribution and the cost of the whole project. Applications are being made to other grant-giving bodies and institutions.

A public appeal will be made later in the year.

In the meantime, anyone who is interested in being interviewed for the oral history project should contact Roger Halls on 01903 214231.