Telling Tales: A Podcast Series
It’s no secret that Digital Voice loves a heritage project (it would definitely be one of our specialist subjects on Mastermind), and we also love finding new and interesting digital ways to gather and preserve local history; Telling Tales, our collaboration with the lovely folks at Tyne Derwent Way, ticks all these boxes.
The Tyne Derwent Way is a nine-mile route showcasing Gateshead’s nature, culture and heritage running between St Mary’s Heritage centre and Gibside. With funding from UK Goverment, several local partners have been working together to restore and reinvigorate the route. Digital Voice were approached to produce a series of podcasts based on six different locations along the route, our brief was to work closely with local communities to find hidden or forgotten stories. Alison Fisher, Project Manager, tells us more about why podcasts felt like the right medium:
“When the Tyne Derwent Way had gone out to the public to ask what they wanted, what they thought would make a difference in the area, one of the most suggested was local history podcasts. We worked with local people, historians and local figures to tell and record these hidden stories. There is so much that is unsaid or no longer visible, such as the holiday location along the Derwent, the floating Gulliver in the Tyne and all the hidden women's history at Gibside. It's been fascinating!”
Digital Voice also commissioned a local music producer to provide an original recording to use in the podcasts and artist Laura Crow created a beautiful series of images to accompany the audio stories, people are going to want to collect the full set.
“I believe podcasts are a fantastic medium for sharing stories of place. I'm an avid podcast listener myself, and know how personal and connected you get while listening, often on your own, to people's stories. I think it is a perfect medium for exploring the history of areas. I imagine people listening to these while walking around the Staiths or Gibside, soaking in the area and having a brilliant tour guide with you.”
- Alison Fisher, Digital Voice
Naz Faraji, Heritage and Engagement Officer for Tyne & Wear Building Preservation Trust, has been delighted with the project and its outcomes:
“Digital Voice has been our main colleague and partner in the Telling Tales along Tyne Derwent Way production. Working with Alison, Julie, Laura and Ronnie from the team couldn’t be better - a great pleasure and a learning experience for us. They really helped us to bring the heritage and memories of Gateshead’s local communities together in one place.”
The podcasts are now out in the world and can be listened to on Spotify, Apple and Castbox - so why not take Alison’s advice and listen while you take a walk along our beautiful riverside.
The Tyne Derwent Way is a partnership project between Tyne & Wear Building Preservation Trust, Northumbria University, Newcastle University, Gateshead Council and The National Trust, funded by UK Government.
For a link to the Tales and to find out more about the partnerships work visit https://www.tynederwentway.co.uk/article/31516/Telling-Tales