Members of Community Rail Network and the Community Rail Education Network recently went on a visit to the National Railway Museum, where they met with the Museum’s outreach and education team.
Research Associate Dr Sophie Vohra gave an interesting talk about collecting stories and showed those attending some fantastic photos that had been collected, all on the theme of how communities are linked to their stations.
Dr Vohra and the team of researchers at the National Railway Museum are currently on the lookout for content as part of their Station Hall masterplan redesign. This area of work will look at stories of migration and the role the railway industry has played in facilitating the (forced) movement of people.
There are three core stories within this subject area:
- The Windrush arrivals at Waterloo
- The Kindertransport during the Second World War
- The Ugandan Asian expulsion and forced migration to Britain in 1972
The team are also open to things in relation to other instances of migration and British railways, but are primarily looking at the three case studies outlined above.
The research group believe it is important for people to have the opportunity to share their experiences and memories of these events in relation to this railway industry and, as such, Dr Vohra and her team would welcome any stories, photos, objects, etc, relating to these three events. Please note that they cannot promise all submissions will be used in the final exhibition – but they want as many members of the community as possible to be involved in shaping how the Museum tells these stories.
If you have any content relating to the subjects above, or would just like to find out some more information, then please email Dr Sophie Vohra on sophie.vohra@railwaymuseum.org.uk.
