Unexamined Lives

The story of the 20th century as lived by residents in the Derbyshire village of Borrowash

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Unexamined Lives Exhibition Closes With Gala Night

The Unexamined Lives Exhibition at Erewash Museum closed with a Gala Night on 29th November, 2016 which marked the culmination of six years’ work on the Unexamined Lives project. 

Project Director Helen Clark said “We are very grateful to Helen Martinez from the museum and all her staff for the use of the facilities at the museum, both on the night and in the preceding weeks of the exhibition including opportunities for artists Mik Godley and writer, Chrissie Hall, to hold exhibition-related weekend workshops.”

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Fathers and Daughters – Hazel Middleton

‘I believe that what we become depends on what our fathers teach us at odd moments, when they aren’t trying to teach us. We are formed by little scraps of wisdom.’(Foucault’s Pendulum by Umberto  Eco).

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Eric Highton – Obituary

Eric Highton, whose Life can be found on the Unexamined Lives website at  “All the World’s a Stage – Eric Highton”  has died after a long illness at the Royal Derby Hospital on Tuesday 9th August 2016. He was aged 91 years.

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Whats In A Name? – The Dyche Family

‘What’s in a name? A rose by any other name would smell as sweet,’ (‘Romeo and Juliet).

I have never agreed with Juliet. If a rose, despite its delicate scent were to be re-styled as a corpse flower (an Indonesian plant that smells as detestable as it looks) its dignity would be tarnished. Similarly a surname can enhance or blight its owner as I know only too well; particularly during the period of childhood and adolescence.

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Only Connect – Elvira Poulter

‘The love of one’s country is a splendid thing. But why should love stop at the boundary?’ (Pablo Casals).

When ‘Unexamined Lives’ started to take shape in 2011, it was sometimes difficult for interviewees to understand what it was all about. Should they talk about buildings or people? Did those people have to be Borrowash residents, past or present? What about people who were linked to the village in another way? Now, five years and 34 written Lives later, the word that most nearly sums up the essence of the project is ‘connection.’ Anthony Heron, who with Paul Hart has conducted most of the interviews, describes the concept in this way:

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WW1 ‘Soldiers’ Pennies’ For Margaret And Edwin Hassé To Have Final Resting Place At Erewash Museum

In 2014, much of the work undertaken by the Borrowash Heritage Lottery-funded ‘Unexamined Lives’ project centred upon the War Memorial in the village. Our researchers Keith Oseman and Peter Ball uncovered the histories behind the names on the Memorial and Keith created a ‘Virtual’ First World War Memorial for our site. One person who stood out because she was the only woman to be commemorated on the village Memorial was Margaret Helen Hassé. In the 1911 Census, Margaret (born in 1887) is recorded as living in the Fulneck Moravian settlement near Leeds and working as a music teacher. Margaret’s brother, Edwin who was killed in action on July 12th 1916 is also listed on the Memorial.

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Friendship Across The Years – Walter Greiner and the Day Family

This is the remarkable continuation into the 21st century of the friendship between the family of Walter Greiner, the German POW in the Alvaston camp and the Day family. It began when the Day family invited Walter, who died last year, to Christmas dinner in 1946 as a gesture of reconciliation. Walter’s daughter Birgit has written to Brian and Maureen Day to say proud he was of the stories we have posted on the website and in the Derby Telegraph “Bygones” section about their friendship.

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The Baby Boomer – Ian Anderson

Ian Anderson, a long-term resident of Borrowash, is in many ways, typical of the famous baby boomer generation born between 1946 -1964 whose members include Bill Clinton, David Bowie and Tony Blair. Baby Boomers were characterised by their capacity to work  and play hard whilst making money and enjoying  it, in contrast to their parents who had endured wartime austerity and led  lifestyles in the shadow of rationing and  ‘making ends meet.’

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What Did The Youngsters At Ashbrook School Think the “17 Princess Drive” Play?

One of our most exciting projects came to fruition just before Christmas 2015 when seventy pupils at Ashbrook Junior School in Borrowash performed ‘Number 17: 100 Years’ History of a Borrowash House’ written by our own Chrissie Hall.

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What Did They Think Of It So Far? – Ashbrook School

Number 17: 100 Years’ History of a Borrowash House’ is a specially commissioned play that looks at the residents of a particular house, home to ten families over the years – and through that story the history of our community here in Borrowash.

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