McGrath Road legacies: combining living archives and historical research to explore the Hamfrith estate

Where the idea came from

Our flats have a lot of windows. When I moved in I was gifted my first set of net curtains from Sidney, who had lived here since the block was built. I also found a treasure chest of toys, a polaroid camera, and a suitcase of personal papers belonging to one of the families that came before me.

I have always loved the traces of the people that came before me that I live with every day in my flat. The kitchen tiles, the carpet on the stairs, the child locks on the windows: they are daily reminders that before me, other people were here living out their lives.

After eight years of wondering, it was time to act. I wanted to speak to my neighbours about what they remember of those people. I also wanted to think even further back, to the war where bombs destroyed the houses that were here before, to the fields of potatoes that were being farmed here as little as two hundred years ago. How old are the tall trees I can see from my living room window, where swifts fly in summer? Were they here when all this was fields and an outpost on the old roman road to Colchester?

 Researching in local archives

My first archive visit was with Sian and Chris, a couple of residents who are heavily involved in trying to improve things on the estate. To find anything about us in the archives is hard work: all the old maps seem to end just before you get here, or start just after us. We are hidden under the extravagant calligraphy describing what the map is of and who made it. We are always on the edge.

Our estate has been neglected for a long time, lots of changes have happened, community assets have been lost and more changes are coming soon. I wanted to think about how the decisions are made that impact our everyday lives, our home. I ended up tracing all the decisions about building our estate in the minutes of the council committee reports.

Speaking to people: living archives

My neighbours have been sharing their memories of each other, events and changes on the estate over the years.

• Sidney, who gifted me my net curtains, died a few years ago but his rose garden lives on around the family whose lively barbecues are heard when the weather gets warm.
• Max grew up playing X-Box in my living room with his best friend Joshua, who lives in Florida now.
• Tije would like to thank all the neighbours for taking in her parcels while she’s out. She may not know your name but she can describe you to a T.
• The community centre is long gone but Pauline tells us about the table-top sales and children’s parties that used to go on there, and the time a snake charmer visited and she wore a python like a scarf.

There is one question on everyone’s lips: what will happen to the derelict nursery that we look out on every day? I think about the birds who will need a place to bathe when the saggy roof of the old building gets demolished, and they lose their accidental bird bath and drinking fountain. I think about this community: that it needs a space to come together, a garden in which to tend to our relationships with one another, where we can grow connections and food, and thrive.

Listen to the memories shared with Rhiannon by residents via your smartphone at this drop-in event on 16th June.