Proud of the heritage on our nation’s corners

Britain as a nation of shopkeepers is the subject of an award-winning exhibition set to tour the* Midlands from this month. It is at Central Lending Library, Belvoir Street, Leicester, LE1 6QL between*2nd – 28th August 2010.

It explores the heritage of the corner shop and small independent retailers, within the Black Country and Birmingham which have been British institutions for over a hundred years. The exhibition is part of a wider Heritage Lottery funded project which involved volunteers and school groups talking to people about their experiences of running independent shops over the last 60 years. The stories collected inspired a sell-out theatre production performed in empty shops in West Bromwich and Wolverhampton during 2008 and 2009.

The Corner Shop project is led by Black Country Touring and Foursight Theatre in partnership with English Heritage, Sandwell Community History & Archive Service, Sandwell Museum Service and Birmingham Archives and Heritage. The project recently won the 2010 Renaissance in the Regions ‘Best of the West’ award, in the category of ‘Innovation’.

Suzanne Carter from English Heritage says “The corner shop has been a community landmark for longer than we can remember. It is a place to meet friends and neighbours while we shop, a work place, but also often a home. The diversity of products sold reflects our changing world. The corner shop holds memories and is an important window onto our social history, which we have tried to capture within the exhibition.”

Contact Central Lending Library: 0116 299 5402 www.leicester.gov.uk/libraries

Ruksana Jagot: Senior Community Librarian: 0116 299 5402

Ruksana.jagot@leicester.gov.uk

The stories of residents have become part of the archive at Sandwell’s Community Heritage and Archives, and an image gallery is held at www.connectinghistories.org.uk.



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