Collecting first-hand accounts of people’s experiences, memories and perspectives is a unique and impactful way to deepen insight and build a detailed and accurate record of people’s everyday lives, their attitudes to social issues, and changes to a community.
North Paddington is an area that is often overlooked and isolated due to its fragmentation and diversity. It has high levels of poverty, standing shoulder-to-shoulder with neighbourhoods of great wealth. It is also an area that has experienced enormous change – through the arrival of major transport infrastructure and generations of migration.
This project aims to commit the voices and stories of people who have lived and worked in North Paddington to the historical archives, to strengthen a shared sense of pride, belonging and connectedness. Interviews were recorded, transcribed, and summarised by Heritage Pioneer Volunteers, supported by Sarah Gudgin, Oral Historian.
The selected extracts have been chosen to represent a diverse range of cultural backgrounds, values, and life experiences.
Click on the themes below to explore North Paddington’s living heritage:
Voices of North Paddington Exhibition
In September 2021 these stories were made shared for the first time in an Oral History exhibition, Voices of North Paddington. This exhibition explored the lives and memories of our community, the changes to the area of North Paddington through time and the St Mary Magdalene’s and Paddington Development Trust partnership and role in the community.
“It is most necessary to avoid rusticity in any way, whether in material, design, or execution.”
George Edmund Street
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