Chester

(This game ended in a goalless draw)
The museum recently hosted a history workshop involving students from the nearby Challenge College. It marks our first step towards a greater goal of an oral history project capturing the changing life in the shadow of Valley Parade over the last century.
On Thursday 27 November GCSE students from Challenge College visited the club to take part in an oral history workshop. For many of the students it was their first visit to Valley Parade, despite living in Manningham and Frizinghall. Ian Ormondroyd’s Football in the Community scheme gave them a ground tour; then we gave them a conducted tour of the museum. The day was rounded off with a discussion of some of the issues raised by their trip.
The day was resounding success and was enjoyed by both the students, museum volunteers and Supporters Trust members. The discussion part of the day was an eye opener for all concerned. The boys were the most animated during the museum tour, but the girls asked the majority of the questions during the discussion.
Alan Carling, chair of the Supporters Trust, presented the school with a copy of David Markham’s book ‘The Bradford City Story’. The book is now in the school library and will no doubt it will be a popular item.
Thanks are due to John Ashton, Alan Carling, Paula Helliwell and Mike Thompson for giving up their time to help make the day a great success. The feedback from the pupils was excellent with 100% saying they enjoyed the day. The event also helped the build firmer foundations between the museum, Supporters Trust and Football in the Community.
All in all, it was a positive first step towards our evolving goal for an oral history project which will look at the experiences - and changing face - of the communities that have lived in the shadow of Valley Parade over the last century. The area around the ground has seen huge changes, especially in the last fifty years. Deindustrialisation and demographic change being the main themes. We’ve seen people form all over the world live alongside Valley Parade – from Estonian’s to Bangladeshi’s, Caribbean’s to Irish. Not forgetting of course the British people who established Manningham as an industrial, working class and even upper class suburb of the city.
It will be a huge, but fascinating project. We will need volunteers to undertake research and interviews. We need to find people who live, or used to live, in the shadow of the ground to capture their memories. If you are interested in becoming part of the project, or know someone who used to live near the ground, please get in touch with myself at davidpendleton1@googlemail.com or call in at the museum before any match.