Secrets of the Sea for the Cornwall Audio Visual Archive

The Cornwall Audio Visual Archive (CAVA) was created in 2000 for the study and preservation of the oral history and visual culture of Cornwall. It advocates an innovative and interdisciplinary approach and is keen to encourage wider participation in the research and recording process.

CAVA Conference

The theme for its first conference, held over 2 days, was "The Power of Place" and developed ideas on the question of how oral and visual perspectives can offer fresh insight into the relationship between locality and identity.

In my new role as Cycleau Facilitator for the Fal & Helford, I was asked by Pamela Tompsett if I would present the HVMCA CD ROM, "Secrets of the Sea" at the first ever conference of the Cornwall Audio Visual Archive (CAVA). This wonderful educational tool for all ages was developed by Ruth Williams when she was the HVMCA Ranger.

I work on the Fal and Helford river catchments as part of the huge European Cycleau Project covering France, Ireland and the UK. "Cycleau" means "water cycle" and the project aims to improve the environmental water quality of a whole river catchment. For the Fal & Helford this means land on which rain water falls, which will then end up in the estuaries as shown on the map.

Cycleau Philosophy

The Cycleau project is there to help increase the involvement of local communities in the environmental management of their rivers and estuaries and wants to find out what people think. The HVMCA is already demonstrating this by linking different groups within the community and creating consensus.

Cycleau & CAVA working together

Since the conference, we at Cycleau have had a meeting with CAVA to discuss ways in which the two projects can work together. We are currently exploring the possibility of CAVA recording oral archives with an environmental theme. For example, if there are memories of rivers that were cleaner or just different, or occupied by different plants & animals than they are now; whether the sand & dunes or the beaches have changed; whether there were habitats and animals / plants that used to exist that have been developed upon now, or are just no longer there. How land use has changed / whether there are different fish caught now by local fishermen in the village. This is just a taster of the memories that we are trying to record.

Help Needed! Recording Oral Archives / sharing your memories!

If you know anyone who would be willing to share their memories about how the environment has changed within the catchments of the Fal & Helford, or how the land / sea use has changed, please let us know! Similarly, if there is anyone who would like to go out and about asking the questions and recording these important memories then please get in touch! (Travel expenses will be paid for volunteer recorders). For further information please contact Sangeeta Taylor.

Sangeeta Taylor
Cycleau Facilitator for the Fal & Helford

Extract from HVMCA newsletter No.29 Autumn 2004