Manchester Oral History: Alec Greenhalgh Interviews
This is a collection of oral history interviews conducted in 1988-1989 by Alec Greenhalgh, journalist and broadcaster, mainly with people from Saddleworth. The interviews are mostly with people who were born between the 1890s and the 1920s and they concentrate on childhood experiences, including family life and village life. Here is a selection of clips from this lovely collection.
Alec Greenhalgh was a journalist who worked at the Oldham Evening Chronicle and the Manchester Guardian before moving into broadcasting with BBC Radio Manchester. These interviews were conducted during Alec’s retirement in the late 1980s.
The interviewees are mostly older working-class people born between the 1890s and the 1920s. Alec’s questions concentrate on childhood experiences, including school, housing, family and village life. The interviews are particularly strong on local traditions like Whit walks and brass band contests.
Alec also interviewed fellow journalist Harry Whewell of the Manchester Guardian and pioneering children’s broadcaster Olive Shapley of the BBC about their careers. The collection also includes recordings of Morris dancing, Oldham dialect poetry and the Whit Friday brass band contest passing through Saddleworth.
The full length interviews are available in the Archives+ search room at Manchester Central Library. The British Library collection reference is UAP001. The local reference is MANOH. You can read the full descriptions online at the British Library’s Sound and Moving Image catalogue. The British Library collection reference is UAP001. The local reference is MANOH.
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