Co-Creation of Local History: Working with the Odd Down History Group

Many people are likely unaware of the history and heritage of their local area, whilst others are passionate about it but may not have an outlet through which to share their passion. This is potentially even more likely in a World Heritage City such as Bath, where the focus is almost exclusively on the city centre locations that give Bath its World Heritage inscription, such as the Roman Baths and the Georgian architecture, and which fits in neatly with the concept of the Authorised Heritage Discourse (AHD) (Smith, 2006). However there is history in all places, including the less ‘glamorous’, usually working class suburbs, such as Odd Down in south-west Bath. The premise of this research is that there is history everywhere and thus the project is based on the hypothesis that every place has, and deserves, a history regardless of what kind of area it is. Through a case study of a local history group, methods such as participatory action research, oral history interviews, surveys and autoethnography, this research examines how people can become involved in their local history and what benefits this can bring. It puts into practice previous research which has looked at collaboration, memory, identity and community building. The research outcomes will be valuable to other projects looking at collaborative working and there is potential for further work expanding the reach of the study to a wider audience.

Name dc:type.qualificationname

ma

Level dc:type.qualificationlevel

masters

Grantor dc:publisher.institution

University of Wales Trinity Saint David

Year dc:date.issued

2026

Author dc:creator

• Mayo, Trudi

• DA Prydain Fawr
• HT Cymunedau. Dosbarthiadau cymdeithasol. Hil

Dc Identifier Grantnumber

UWTSD

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:repository.uwtsd.ac.uk:4326