OSBrecks

Bathing in the Brecks: Outdoor Swimming past, present & future

Oral history archives and other sources in Norfolk, Suffolk, and beyond

There is a wealth of oral history material in East Anglia, along with local community and county archive collections. This is a list of key oral history collections and some other archives with most relevance to the Brecks area, along with links to the County archives and those from further afield, to resources for community archives, and to lists of history groups and museums.

Some resources are more directly relevant than others to the Brecks and to the fen edge; some have material on water-related recreation, work or activities, or landscape.

Main local oral history collections

One of the largest oral history collections, The WISE Archive, centred in Norfolk, collects stories of working life and publishes them as transcripts. They already have hundreds and invite more:

The WISE Archive

The Norfolk Sound Archive, based at Norfolk Record Office, has a large collection which is currently being digitised, https://www.archives.norfolk.gov.uk/article/30910/Using-the-sound-archive

https://www.archives.norfolk.gov.uk/article/31362/Unlocking-Our-Sound-Heritage

Suffolk Archives also has a large collection, https://www.suffolkarchives.co.uk/collections/getrecord/GB173_L401

The East Anglia Film Archive has a regional collection, https://eafa.org.uk/about-us/, many of which can be seen online.

National collection: There are sound archives, including some from this region, at the British Library, though currently still recovering from a cyber attack so the direct link is not currently available [July 2025].  https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/a/A13531725

https://www.bl.uk/subjects/sound

Other local archives with some oral history content

The Norfolk Mills website includes stories from people relating to watermills and windmills, https://www.norfolkmills.co.uk/

The history of creating Thetford Forest is told in a collection of oral history interviews, https://www.forestryengland.uk/article/the-peoples-history-thetford-forest

Mildenhall Cricket Club collected oral history memories, including references to the river Lark which runs alongside its site, https://mildenhallcricketclub.hitscricket.com/pages/page_35130/Archive-Catalogue-Index.aspx

Suffolk Wildlife Trust collected stories of enjoying the countryside across Suffolk, including a couple of locations in the Brecks or nearby, https://www.suffolkwildlifetrust.org/guw; booklet to download (PDF 12.2 MB), https://osbrecks.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Growing-Up-Wild-2017.pdf ; or read Growing Up Wild online (on ISSUU)

The Little Ouse Headwaters Project recorded a series of Oral Histories 2011-2013: the memories of people who had lived or worked in the upper valley, https://readmore.lohp.org.uk/archive/personal-histories.

Memories of Ely pits have been collected, which include memories of swimming. These pits provided the clay that was used to build and maintain the banks of the Brecks and fen rivers, https://memoriesofelypitsandmeadows.com/about.php, and see also https://capturingcambridge.org/east-cambridgeshire/ely/roswell-roslyn-pits-ely/

The Norfolk Polish Heritage Group collected memories from Polish people in Norfolk, https://www.thenphg.org/archive-project

An interview of local canoeist is transcribed on the Santon Downham website, http://www.santondownham.org/Archive/2016/lizsharman.html

The Norfolk Girl Guides archive has a wealth of material, https://arc.girlguidingnorfolk.org.uk

Resources to support community archives and oral history collecting

This community archives toolkit includes a section on oral history. It was set up in a funded project, and will remain, though might not be updated.

https://www.archives.norfolk.gov.uk/article/30883/Community-archives-toolkit

https://www.archives.norfolk.gov.uk/article/30958/What-is-oral-history

This resource, also linked to Norfolk Record Office, might not be quite up-to-date, Resources for Community Archives in Norfolk . The forum is not live, though can be viewed, at least by members, Norfolk Archives Forum

The Oral History Society provides advice and training, and membership is an option. The website includes very useful advice, https://www.ohs.org.uk/about-2

Lists of local history societies and community archives

There are numerous local history societies and community archives around Norfolk and Suffolk and other parts of East Anglia, and these appear in a couple of lists. (Note that these might not always be up-to-date, and do not seem to be not a full list, at least of Brecks groups):

Local history groups in the Brecks and fen edge area:

Brecks and fen edge museums: