Saving Lives - Rescuing our Coastal Heritage


lottery logolottery logo
Maritime Rescue Institute – Coastal Heritage Project
The Old Pier, Stonehaven, AB39 2JU; Tel 01569 765768; email coastalheritage@yahoo.co.uk

 

PRESS RELEASE

New Coastal Heritage Project is a Lifesaver

The Maritime Rescue Institute has embarked on a one-year voyage of discovery into the Kincardineshire coast’s past. Their new heritage project, ‘Saving Lives – Rescuing the Coastal Heritage’, aims to record the traditions and ways of life of coastal communities in Kincardineshire. Songs, stories and dances stemming from the communities’ traditional links with the coast and the sea will form the basis of the project, and those collected will be kept alive for current and future generations to enjoy.

‘These are fragile aspects of our heritage that can be lost forever in times of change’ said Ann Laing of the Maritime Rescue Institute.  ‘This project aims to stem the loss and to help local people and visitors, now and in the future, to understand and appreciate the coastal population’s traditional links with the sea. In effect, we will be saving elements of past lives for future benefit.’

By using popular media such as DVDs, CDs, leaflets and websites the Institute’s newly appointed heritage team will create a living repository for coastal traditions that will not only preserve fragile aspects of the local heritage, but will also act as a resource for formal and informal education, for local tourism, and as a focus for local involvement in heritage issues. 

Crucially, the project seeks to place local people at the heart of the process.
Project Co-ordinator Craig Whyte said, ‘we are looking to make contact with schools and community groups throughout the area to invite them to play an active role, however large or small, in the project. Participants can undertake a variety of tasks including carrying out research into local traditions such as fishing methods, festivals, traditional occupations and forms of entertainment such as song and dance, as well as stories about local characters and events. Some project volunteers will also be trained in oral history techniques, equipping them to carry out interviews of local people to find out more about past ways of life. There is also a possibility that we will look to create new songs, written by young people, based on knowledge of local traditions gleaned from the project’s own research and from interviews with older people.’

Craig is keen to hear from any groups or individuals living on, or with an interest in, the Kincardineshire coast. He can be contacted at the Marine Rescue Institute on 01569 765768 on Wednesdays and Thursdays, or at: coastalheritage@yahoo.co.uk

The project is funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund.

 

ENDS




MRI 42

 

For further information, or to get involved with MRI in any way, please contact MRI.

 

Updated: 3 November, 2006

Shop with MRI and support our activities.

For further information, or to get involved with MRI in any way, please contact MRI.