Very often, as I’m such a sentimental person I feel sad when things change, people move on, houses get sold, possessions get lost. It’s not a good thing to be so sentimental, it can impair your judgement, make you over-look the benefits a new beginning might bring.
When old family heirlooms and photograph albums loose their relevance, when nobody can remember who owned it, or name anyone in the photos it’s time to move on, start creating your own heirlooms and concentrate on creating memories with the people around you.
Loosing heritage and memories of a community is often a worry for many rural villages, with new-comers moving into the area, and communities feeling less integrated with each other.
It’s important that the younger generation learn and respect the past and the history of their local patch, it’s all part of feeling at home and feeling that you belong.
In the uplands of North Wales we have a plan to try and collect memories and anecdotal evidence of how the area has changed over the past 50 years and more. Some of the local residents had expressed concerns that the history of their village wasn’t being shared, so we are in the process of drawing up a project that aims to collect the oral heritage of the area. I’m really looking forward to chatting to local farmers, businesses and anyone else about what they remember and what they’ve been told. I’m sure there are some very interesting tales to be told and I can’t wait to have a record of them so that they can be shared. We’re not just doing it for sentimental purposes either, we’ll be able to use these records to help us understand how land management practices have changed over the years and help us plan for the future. It might open our eyes further to the causes of some of the problems that face upland ecosystems and help us work with farmers and landowners in a more effective way, by using new technology with old knowledge we might be able to make a greater impact in conserving the beautiful ancient habitats that make North Wales so inspiring.