Saltwood Speaks Covid-19 Impact in Saltwood

Saltwood Speaks by Guy Sharrock

Saltwood is an ancient village that has witnessed many significant events over the centuries, and Covid-19 is another chapter in its ongoing story. The challenges arising from over a year of Covid-19 have affected us all in different ways, either through personal or family illness or from the social restrictions that we have experienced, or both and more. Our aim is to obtain a record of how Covid-19 has impacted on the lives of a small sample of Saltwood residents between 2020-22.

In the early part of the first Covid-19 lockdown, while listening to the radio I was not infrequently hearing presenters opine that the pandemic was the biggest shock to our country since the Second World War. Around the same time, I remember listening to the broadcast of a memorable radio recording of a wartime conversation. It was enthralling: the respondent was busy answering the interviewer’s questions when at one point he calmly noted above the whistling sound of falling bombs that they needed to take cover. It made me realize how powerful it is to hear ‘live’ what later becomes an historical event.

Whilst it’s one thing to read about historical events, it’s likely a richer experience to hear people talk about their experiences of living through such a moment of history. Remember that just over 100 years ago the devastating worldwide impact of the influenza pandemic during 1918-1919. It is said that over 50 million people worldwide died, and around one-third of the world’s population were infected with the virus. We can only imagine how people were feeling at a time when there was no such thing as a vaccine, and certainly no antibiotics to treat secondary infections. Together with a friend, we started wondering whether it might be valuable for listeners in the future to hear how different folk here in the village were impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic. As we continue to endure its effects, we have almost completed our initial task of capturing a variety of perspectives reflecting some of the diversity of Saltwood residents’ Covid-19 experiences. The aim of the Saltwood Speaks! podcast series, comprising 10 episodes, is that through a series of informal conversations between respondents we can capture their personal reflections at a time when their memories are not too distant, and their thoughts and hopes as they look ahead. Our preferred approach has been to encourage a ‘self-led’ conversation in the style of the BBC’s Listening Project.

We have had a wonderful range of willing respondents involving women and men, younger and older, different occupations, who have given us their consent to record and publish their conversations. Although this has not been a ‘scientific sample’ we think it reflects a broad range of perspectives.

Once we complete the recordings, our task will then be to edit them to an episode duration of 15-20 minutes. This seemed to us to be a ‘goldilocks’ duration - not too long, not too short, but just about right. The editing process has been explained to the respondents who, of course, will have the final say in anything that gets published online. We plan to host the recollections online for others in the village, local historians, and the public to access, most likely on YouTube, but we will also be approaching administrators of local websites (e.g. Saltwood Club). We are also considering sending the podcast series to the British Library as a historical record for future socio-historical research. Here is how one episode sounds and looks: https://www.buzzsprout.com/1912406/98223 50, the first completed episode in the Saltwood Speaks! podcast series.