On Saturday 18th May 2019 we had our exhibition for our Hidden Lives project, to show what we have done so far as we are now half way through. We had a brilliant turn out and it was great to show all our hard work that we have done and what else is still planned for the rest of the project.
It was lovely to see the residents of Hampton Manor and Middlefield attend the exhibition and for them to see what they have been involved in and introduce them to people coming along the exhibition if we were asked for example, is anyone from Hampton Manor?
Helen and Pam, who lived at Hampton Manor
It was lovely to receive so many compliments about our display boards and banners and people interested to know about what we have been working on and sitting down and watching the interviews.
It was also lovely to see familiar faces still showing their support for our project, the exhibition was at the Hampton in Arden Church which is just down the road from Hampton Manor and some of the ladies from the Manor went to mass there. Some of the locals from Hampton Manor and remembered the craft shop and some of the things that you could buy and remembering taking their grandchildren to the shop. It was lovely to hear this that people have got good memories of the Manor and the ladies that lived there, they all seem to be missed in the community.
We had a sitting down area where people could sit down and have tea and cake and also look at pictures and information from Middlefield, some of the pictures were from Middlefield back in Victorian times, the black and white pictures so you could see what it was like to be in the classroom and the ward. For me this got me thinking all the time from when I first saw them to even now how we got treated for having disability being removed from our families and even in some cases spending all our lives there with no contact with the outside world.
The memory tree proved to be really popular it was great seeing so much interest and reading everyone’s memories of Middlefield and Hampton Manor and the people that lived there. We put the memory tree at the end of exhibition, as we thought people could write something on their way out when they have seen the exhibition and if they have got any personal memories of their own. The memory tree now has pride of place in our reception area in the office, and it would be great to add more memories on to the tree, this is the residents’, the staff’s and the community’s story and it should always be remembered we should never forget those that lived at Middlefield and Hampton Manor.
The Memory Tree