Colwick Woods Audio Project

Colwick Woods, one of the most important and interesting green spaces in the city, has a rich history that stretches back to the 1600’s. Once a deer park as part of the Colwick Hall estate owned by the Byron Family (there are still remains of the Ice House on the site) the woods contains many local legends and stories, including the infamous Saville murders. For generations it was a place of escape from the slums of Sneinton and St. Ann’s, and the site is full of memories of childhood play, natural exploration, and communal social function. During the Second World War the woods housed a P.O.W. Camp, which was converted into emergency accommodation for local people; and the nearby area of Bakersfield became home to an Italian community.

Alongside this rich social history, the emergence and disappearance of paths, the cultivation of new areas, the opening and closing of golf courses and bowling greens, all speak of, and provide a valuable insight into our changing understandings, relationships, and uses of local woodlands and green spaces. Furthermore the changing approaches to the environmental management of the site (with a turn to encouraging ‘wildness’ instead of conservation) alongside the different foliage and fauna that has been found there over the years, provides the opportunity to explore how our relationship and understanding of the environment has impacted social engagement with the woods in the post-war era.

With financial support from the National Lottery Heritage Fund and working with The Friends of Colwick Woods and Ignite Futures, with support from The Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust and Nottingham City Council, we have been gathering stories and memories, creating a programme of walks and talks in the woods, and developed inter-generational dialogue between the communities for whom this space is so important. All of this has lead to the creation of a free to use audio guide which weaves together archival research, a living social history, and an exploration of environmental heritage.