A Washington memory box has been created to help spark people's memories of life in the new town in the 60s, 70s and 80s.
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00:00 So as you can see, looking in the box, we've got lots of different memorabilia,
00:04 Drugs People's Memory. We've got the official guide which was produced after
00:08 Washington New Town was opened in 1974. You can see we've got some of the development
00:14 plans as Washington grew as a new town, one there from 1967 and another one from
00:18 1973. This is the map of what Washington used to look like before the new town
00:25 was built. It was just a collection of villages including Washington Village.
00:30 As residents arrived, they were given a handbook and that's the front cover of
00:34 the handbook they used to receive. As we try to encourage people to move to the area,
00:40 we're all given this brochure which you can see has got lots of pictures just
00:45 advertising the new town and just trying to encourage people to come and live here.
00:49 That's what all prospective buyers coming to the area would get. This book here
00:56 about the history of Washington, 1964 to 83, was actually produced by one of
01:01 the main developers who was involved in building the new town. As well as stuff
01:05 on Washington, you've got lots of things from the time 1964 was opened, so from the
01:10 60s and going into the 70s. You've got an old newspaper here and I think this is to
01:15 do with with the death of Winston Churchill. More memorabilia here. We've also got
01:22 some stuff from the times. We've got magazines. I think this is from 1968.
01:29 We've got music from the times. It's not just about Washington itself, it's about getting
01:33 people talking about the period when Washington did become a new town in the 60s
01:37 and also in the 70s as it evolved.
01:42 Okay, just tell me a bit about the Memory Box Project and what you hope to achieve.
01:46 Right, so the Memory Box Project, it's designed to jog people's memories and by
01:52 giving them some objects to look at and that they may remember. To help draw
01:59 out stories of what it was like to grow up in the 1960s, 70s, 80s or move into the
02:06 town then or even to have been here and seen those changes happen. It's
02:13 aimed at us maybe recording some of those stories, collecting them together,
02:18 putting them together with some exhibitions, some art, some creative
02:23 writing, things like that. The idea is that all of this can be exhibited in
02:28 the months leading up to and especially around July next year when Washington
02:33 New Town turns 60. Obviously you've got your Memory Box there, which we've got at
02:37 the moment. Is part of the aim to get some more items put in there as well?
02:41 Definitely. Basically we've got what the museum has been able to collect
02:48 so far. This comes from Sunderland Museum. It's a fantastic collection
02:52 and it's very tightly curated but obviously it's got to be selective
02:55 because it's for the whole city. What I'm hoping for is that people will bring
03:00 along things that maybe they don't want anymore that we can add in there that
03:04 are very Washington specific maybe or just something that, for instance, books
03:09 of Green Shield stamps that you can't trade in anymore. For some reason people
03:13 mention those and their co-op Divvy card and things like that. Anything like that
03:19 that you think might be of interest to other people would be great and even if
03:23 you just want us to see it, maybe photograph it, that's no problem either
03:27 but anything that you would like to donate helps us get other people's
03:33 memories as well. I know you've mentioned you're looking to go into schools, care homes,
03:37 community groups. If people watch and read this and want to get involved, what should they do?
03:41 They should get in touch with me at the email address supplied or the phone
03:46 number supplied. Basically this is an open invitation that whenever I've got
03:50 a free afternoon or morning that works for you and your group, I'll come in
03:56 and we'll have a chat. We might even have a sing-song, get through some 60s tunes.
04:02 Whatever helps us get these stories told is brilliant as far as
04:10 I'm concerned and I know everybody's got good stories because whenever we go out
04:14 to events somebody always tells me something absolutely brilliant and you
04:18 just go, "I never knew that!"
04:22 This particular project is of great interest to me. My parents moved to
04:27 Washington in 1973. I grew up in Washington in the 80s and 90s and just looking at
04:32 some of these pictures now does jog my memory. I grew up in Albany. You've got
04:36 Albany Village Centre in 1975. I wasn't born then but I certainly remember
04:41 going to primary school in the 1980s and some of the things
04:45 there jog my memory. I remember the sign, I remember the clock, I remember that cover as
04:49 well which no longer exists. This one also really caught my attention and you
04:55 can see the big coal heap slit and what you've got there is the Washington F Pit.
05:00 In my childhood I just knew Washington F Pit as a museum but you can see there and
05:05 that's how it used to look with the big coal heap there. The crocodile also got
05:10 my attention. I remember as a child I'm sure it was Princess Anne Park. I remember
05:14 there used to be a pond or a lake there and those crocodiles were in there. I remember
05:17 jumping around them as a kid. So as the title suggests there, what are your
05:22 memories of Washington before and after the New Town? If you've got any
05:25 memories you want to get involved in this project then as I say get in touch
05:29 with the Washington Heritage.