Hannah BateOctober 08, 2025Comment

Archives in Action - Navigating the Weaver

Hannah BateOctober 08, 2025Comment

The River Weaver’s industrial, boatbuilding and trading history is well documented in our archives, but there’s an important chapter missing. We need your help to tell the story of how the river has been transformed by leisure, pleasure, and environmental and natural habitat conservation.

What we’d like to do

We’re inviting groups and organisations connected to leisure and natural habitats along the River Weaver to take part in our oral history project. We would like to record and preserve the real voices and experiences of those who know the river best.

This is a chance for you to share your experiences of the River Weaver, have your voice heard, and help grow and preserve your community’s shared story for the future.

The project will collect sound recordings of informal conversations with groups, led by trained members of our team or volunteers. We’ll also be collecting soundscapes of the river and people experiencing the river.

How it will work

Recordings will be made at mutually agreed locations. They’ll take around an hour and will be guided by our friendly team members who will have a few helpful questions on hand to spark and keep conversations flowing.

Participants will not need to identify themselves on the recordings and can choose to remain anonymous. It’s important to us that all participants feel comfortable and enjoy the experience.

How the recordings will be used

The collected voices and sounds, alongside our existing collection, will act as the inspiration for young people to represent the river’s history creatively learning and developing creative and collaborative skills and experience.

Your memories will be added to Cheshire’s archives collection and with permission made available to the public.

How do I get involved?

If you are from a group with a connection to the River Weaver and you would like to take part, we would love to hear from you.