Wanted: tales of the River Mersey

AN ambitious project has been launched to persuade local people to tell their stories of the River Mersey.
Everyone with a story to tell – young, old, individuals, community groups, schools, colleges, etc – can make a contribution to “Artery of Life” and have their work published as part of a “talking heads” film and audio book.
The project has been funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund and Access to Nature and is aimed at people from Warrington, Widnes and Runcorn – the towns along the 11-miles of the Upper Mersey Estuary.
A spokesman said: “We’d like to uncover more of the hidden history of our great river by hearing your personal stories and tales about it, your recollections and experiences of now and from the past.
“Everyone who has a story to tell; young and old, individuals and community groups, schools and colleges, anyone! If you have a story then we’d like to hear it.”
Stories can be about the river itself, its bridges, its wildlife or the industry along its banks.
The stories should be typed or handwritten on one side of an A4 sheet and be no more than 500 words. They should be handed in at any Warrington library or emailed to [email protected] by August.
The Artery of Life project will go on until 2012 and will connect individuals and communities in Warrington, Widnes and Runcorn to the River Mersey in a number of publicly engaged activities. The stories will form part of an oral history production of a talking heads film and audio book.