Week 3 (17-23 May): Speaking Out

17 May – Zoom Online Session
Respect Festival Workshop
This May, Plymouth’s spoken word, arts, and performance platform WonderZoo will be seizing the opportunity to get involved with the History Festival with both hands! This is one of a series of creative workshops for schools and other organisations examining the formation of identity and how to tell your own story, using writing, visual art and dance to explore ten minority figures from Plymouth’s history. Local historian Karen Moore has researched a group of people whose stories need to retold and WonderZoo will be working in conjunction with the Respect Festival, which will take place online on 5th June and feature these remarkable stories.
For more information visit the WonderZoo website .

18 May 7pm
The Archaeological Complex at Calstock
In this talk Dr Chris Smart, University of Exeter, will uncover the findings of The Bere Ferrers archaeological project, which investigates the deveAopment of the royal silver mines on the Devon bank of the Tamar between 1292 and the mid 16th century. To book your place for this talk and receive the zoom link for the session, please
visit here.

19 May 7.30pm The Devon Family History Society Talk. Formed in 1976, is one of the largest Family History Societies in the UK. The Society’s objectives are to promote the study of genealogy and history, especially of Devon families and places, to educate the public therein through advice and instruction, and, for the public benefit, to encourage the preservation and transcription of relevant documents and records, especially for the county of Devon. They are hosting four free talks via a zoom platform which are free and open for anyone to attend.  Today’s talk is entitled ‘Manorial Records’ by Caroline Gurney.  To receive the link for the talk email putting Plymouth History Festival in the Subject Box, and add details of the talk(s) you wish to attend in your message.

20 May 11.00am Tamar Crossings – Guided Talk about the Tamar Bridge. Join a guided talk about the award-winning Tamar Bridge. You will also get a great view of Brunel’s masterpiece in bridge engineering, the Royal Albert Bridge, as well as insight into its construction. The tour is limited to a maximum of 5 people plus the guide, and booking is essential. For more information and to book go here.

21 May – Zoom Session at 1.30pm with the POP Heritage Network
Come and join the weekly online sessions of the Plymouth Octopus Project Hertitage network. Hear about the work that our members are involved in and join conversations about what’s next for the world of local heritage as we move out of lockdown and consider what next. Come and join the weekly online sessions of the Plymouth Octopus Project Heritage Network sessions. Hear about the work that our members and member groups are involved in and join conversations about what’s next for the world of local heritage as we move out of lockdown and consider what next. To book a place, please email here
and you’ll be sent the zoom link.

21 May 7.30pm The Devon Family History Society Talk. Formed in 1976, is one of the largest Family History Societies in the UK. The Society’s objectives are to promote the study of genealogy and history, especially of Devon families and places, to educate the public therein through advice and instruction, and, for the public benefit, to encourage the preservation and transcription of relevant documents and records, especially for the county of Devon. They are hosting four free talks via a zoom platform which are free and open for anyone to attend.  Today’s talk is entitled ‘British and Irish Newspapers by Chris Paton. To receive the link for the talk email putting Plymouth History Festival in the Subject Box, and add details of the talk(s) you wish to attend in your message.

17 May 11.00am
Walking Trails in the City – Waterfront (1)
Join Walks with History for a walk along the Waterfront Trail to Plymouth Barbican. Walk time 90 minutes. Starting point . Laira Bridge by the Morley Arms, Billacombe Road, PL9 7HP. Please come prepared for the weather and wear sensible shoes are a must.

£5.00 ticket price and must have an advance place booked via email or 07443 890933 (6pm-8pm only)

18 May 7.30pm
Creme de la Creme Spoken Word Event
Leadworks CIC is an innovative social enterprise, offering grassroots community
organisations and artists a space to work, create, connect and be. They provide regular
events, some of which have moved to online during the recent lockdowns. One of these is the Crème del la Crème spoken word event which has taken place on a monthly basis. As part of the History Festival the theme for this month’s event is heritage and who we are.
Come along and hear some reflections from some outstanding local writers.
This event is open to all and the zoom link is here.

19 May to 25 May – The Hub, Stoke Community Exhibition. Stoke and Morice Town have strong links with the past. Many local people have lived here for generations, having had family members in the Navy, Merchant Navy, or working as “Yardies” . Community Benefit Society, The Village Hub, has been getting to know several individuals with their own private collections of social history, and is intending to run an exhibition in its community space on the local high street, 67 Devonport Road, Stoke Village. Having no experience of such a task, volunteers will be working with members of the Plymouth Community Heritage Network and students from University of Plymouyh to learn how to curate such an exhibition. The aim is not only to showcase the remarkable stories of residents, past and present, but also to skill up our community in ways that value and celebrate our shared histories and sense of place. The hub will be accepting items for the exhibition from May 1st and will be opening our doors to the public on May 19th to May 26th as social distancing allows us to bring people inside once more! (Masks and Sanitiser on hand!) If you would like to get involved as a local resident either to loan some of your items of interest, to come along and learn how to curate an exhibition of social history from the experts and be part of the team who deliver it, or simply to pop in and be wowed by the lives of residents, please get in touch! Email here, call 07855048428 or visit.

20th May 7.00 WonderZoo Radical Reading Group. Join the WonderZoo radical reading group as they look at David Lloyd and Alan Moore’s seminal graphic novel ‘V for Vendetta’!
To join the group and get a free copy of the book, send an email and a Zoom link will be sent out one hour prior to the event.

21 May 10.00am – Stoke Heritage Walk The Village Hub, in conjunction with Fisher’s Footprints of Plymouth, present a heritage trail Tour where you ‘Loop the Loop’ around Stoke Village and learn about its historical background by walking through times gone … assisted with pictures from the past. Starting outside at the ‘Hub’ at 11.00am for an up to a 2hr meander.Booking – There is a 25-person limit on this walk so booking is essential.  Please email to register your place.

21 May 6.00pm – Zoom Online
Friday Night Pub Quiz
One of the aspects of last year’s festival that enabled everyone to show how much
they knew (or didn’t) about local history was a quiz running through the festival. This year
we are excited to hand this over to an intrepid bunch of students, studying history and
heritage at University of Plymouth, and join them for a Friday night virtual pub quiz.
Come along and join the fun and win prizes from The Box. Please email for the zoom link.

22 May – 11.00am Tamar Crossings – Guided Talk about the Tamar Bridge. Join a guided talk about the award-winning Tamar Bridge. You will also get a great view of Brunel’s masterpiece in bridge engineering, the Royal Albert Bridge, as well as insight into its construction. The tour is limited to a maximum of 5 people plus the guide, and booking is essential. For more information and to book go here.

17 May 2.00pm
Walking Trails in the City – Waterfront (2)
Join Walks with History for a walk along the Plymouth Hoe Boundary Stones Trail. Walk time 90 minutes. Start point. Mayflower Steps, Barbican, PL1 2LR. Please come prepared for the weather and sensible shoes are a must.

£5.00 ticket price and must have an advance place booked via email or 07443 890933 (6pm-8pm only)

18 May – 11.00am Tamar Crossings – Guided Talk about the Tamar Bridge. Join a guided talk about the award-winning Tamar Bridge. You will also get a great view of Brunel’s masterpiece in bridge engineering, the Royal Albert Bridge, as well as insight into its construction. The tour is limited to a maximum of 5 people plus the guide, and booking is essential. For more information and to book go here.

19 May 2.00pm –
Unheard Voices Online Talk
Recent times have made many of us acutely aware how some voices fail to be heard in history.  For some communities, it is a struggle for our stories to be heard, captured and archived and so conversations around history can fail to consider whole groups of people whose stories tell us so much about who we all are. 
For this year’s history festival, we are offering a series of talks addressing issues of gender, sexuality and race and today features Hayley Kemp encouraging us, with her “Rebel Footprints talk” , to hear the stories of women such as courtesan, Pearl of Plymouth from Stonehouse, with a suite now named after her at the famous Grosvenor Hotel. ‘Mother Weston, friend and ‘mother’ of the Royal Navy sailors.  The Ju-jutsuffragettes, ‘A New Terror, a 20 strong force trained in jujitsu led by ‘General’ Flora Drummond, patrolling Plymouth, ready to fight with the police.  Oh and in case that’s all a bit tame for you, we’ll also be looking at the attempt by the women who tried to blow up Smeaton’s Tower!
Please email to receive the relevant zoom link for the session.

19 May 11.45am Tamar Crossings – The Royal Albert Bridge – Design and Construction. Join us for a 15-minute talk on a range of subjects connected with the river and the two bridges. Each half-hour talk is delivered online by a different volunteer guest speaker in partnership with the WEA. For more information and to book go to here.

20 May 10.00am
High Street Heritage Action Zone Heritage Walk 1
‘Door to Door with Trade‘ provides with the opportunity to walk the trade route between Stonehouse Town Gate to the Frankfort Gate of Plymouth. A route that was in use for hundreds of years by market traders’ official ones and others! While on route we’ll be talking about the changing landscapes and disappearing and appearing features along the way.
To book a place please email here.

21 May 7.30 Old Plymouth Society presents “Not Just Chocolate” a talk by Patricia Hodge)
As part of the history festival, the society are hosting a light-heart talk called “Not Just
Chocolate” featuring an eclectic mix of stories and ideas. It contains information about
chocolate manufacture, type setting and the development of early photography. The story
follows the lives of five children born in Plymouth who are descendants of Joseph Fry – the founder of the Fry’s chocolate company. To receive the zoom link for this event please email to register.

22 May 2.00pm
Walking Trails in the City – Five Fields Lane
Join Walks with History for a walk along the former Five Fields Lane including parts of Plymouth’s newest walking trail. Walk time 90 minutes. Start point. Front of Plymouth Railway Station, PL4 6AB. Please come prepared for the weather and sensible shoes are a must.

£5.00 ticket price and must have an advance place booked via email or 07443 890933 (6pm-8pm only)

23 May 11.00am
Walking Trails in the City – Efford Cemetery
Join Walks with History, on a walk through the Cemetery remembering the lives of the people buried there. Walk time 90 minutes. Start point. Outside the Cemetery Gates, Efford Road, PL3 6NG. Please come prepared for the weather and sensible shoes are a must.
£5.00 ticket price and must have an advance place booked via email or 07443 890933 (6pm-8pm only)

Online Wellbeing Conversations around exhibits and spaces in The Box
As The Box reopens, during the festival, we focus on there special places. Each one provides some additional perspective, from people directly involved in the exhibits, with a view to providing visitors with some additional background to their design but also with an invitation to consider their own identities and wellbeing in terms of their own heritage.

Lesbian Voices of Plymouth Trail. Lesbian Voices of Plymouth is a National Lottery Heritage Fund and Vital Sparks funded project to capture and archive the lesbian voices of Plymouth both past and present.  As part of the History Festival, why not undertake the virtual walk that was created as part of this project? You can have a wander around the wonder of Plymouth’s historic waterfront whilst listening to excerpts from the LVoP interviews … and you don’t even need to leave your seat if you don’t want to! Visit the Lesbian Voices website to access the virtual walk.

“Celebrating Sporting Life and Achievement in Plymouth” – an exhibition of posters and a supporting audio/ virtual tour from Ford Park Cemetery.
At a time when sporting activities and spectator sports are unavailable, to most of the public, Ford Park Cemetery offers an on-line exhibition and audio tour celebrating the sporting life and achievements in Plymouth. As well as the more obvious sports of football and rugby, posters include a celebration of horse racing at Chelson Meadow, greyhound racing and speedway at the old Pennycross Stadium plus memories of the swimming clubs, sailing clubs and cycling clubs across the city. The audio tour includes visits to some of the city’s sporting heroes including rugby player Jimmy Peters.
Booking – The exhibition will be available via the trust’s Facebook page – plus a display on the cemetery web site.

Finding Yourself in the Archive – An Online Exhibition by University of St Mark and St John. The University was originally two separate Colleges which were situated in London – St. John’s College in Battersea and St. Mark’s College in Chelsea. The present University Archives document and reflect Marjon’s history. The collection includes student registers, committee minutes, textbooks and exam papers, plans and photographs, student reminiscences and memorabilia, as well as newer forms of media. This exhibition will share images and experiences of the archive volunteers who took part in a social-prescribing archive-based project called the “Connected Catalogue”. Weblink to follow.

Family History Helpdesk Online. As part of this year’s History Festival, the Devon Family History Society are offering one to one Tree House Help Desk sessions throughout the duration of the festival. The Tree House research centre has a wealth of information and resources along with experienced, friendly volunteers on hand to help and guide you. Whether you’re just starting out in family history or you’ve hit a brick wall and don’t know how to break it, the Tree House could open new pathways to the past. Your reward could be a realistic and meaningful discovery of your ancestors. To arrange a one-to-one Treehouse session, email and put Plymouth History Festival in the Subject Box, with brief details of your query in your message. A volunteer will email you with a suggested date and time.

A History of sport and leisure in Central Park Virtual Walk. An opportunity to explore the history of Central Park through the sports and recreational activities that have taken place there through the years. The walk can be accessed here.

Plymouth Synagogue and Ripple Theatre (1) Plymouth Cemetery Audio Trail and (2) Gifford Place Audio Trail Trail 1 – The Old Jewish Cemetery Audio Trail. Located on Plymouth’s historic Hoe, in the shadow of The Citadel, lies a hidden secret: The Old Jewish Cemetery. Contained within high stone walls it has always remained hidden from public view. The only clue to its existence…an insignificant door. In 2016 that door was opened and for the first time in its history the general public were given the opportunity to take a look inside. With the aid of funding from Vital Sparks and the Drake Foundation an audio trail was created in the garden cemetery, bringing to life the lives of those buried within this hidden gem. In 1740 this plot was a family garden; today it is a calm oasis that hides a wealth of history and culture. In light of the current pandemic and knowing that the old Jewish cemetery on Plymouth Hoe will not be open for some time the audio trail has been re-edited and can be accessed from the Ripple Theatre website. Trail 2 – A new audio from the people who created the popular Jewish Cemetery audio trail. Talking to families with ancestors buried in the Gifford Place Cemetery we are using these oral histories to create a new cemetery trail. Told by the families themselves, creating a sharing from one culture to another. Further information about these trails can be found here and the audios accessed here and the audios accessed here.

The Devonport Heritage Trail is going live on the Plymouth Trails app on Friday 7th May to mark the start of Plymouth History Festival 2021.The 4.5 mile route is an updated version of the hugely popular trail that has guided people around Devonport since 2011. Now, thanks to Real Ideas Organisation, the walking trail has been digitised and users will be guided along the route in the easy-to-use app.The Devonport Heritage Trail links historic and cultural points of interest in Devonport. It is a great way to explore the local area, once an important town in its own right. The trail will take you through Mount Wise, to the Guildhall and soon-to-open Devonport Market Hall (both run by Real Ideas). The Market Hall was formerly the market for the whole of Devonport, but has now been renovated to create a space that combines traditional elements with state-of-the-art technology including a 15m diameter dome which will allow you to explore immersive realities, without the need for a VR headset. From here, the trail also takes in North Corner and Devonport Park. The original trail was created by Plymouth City Council, Devonport Regeneration Community Partnership, local artist and historians, and the City Museum (now The Box). The trail has been updated by Visit Plymouth and contains more fantastic archival images from The Box collections. The Devonport Heritage Trail is the 9th trail to be added to the app, alongside the Mayflower Trail, Waterfront Walkway and Rainbow Connections Trail.You can download the Plymouth Trails app for free from the AppStore or PlayStore. For more information, including accessibility, head here.