VISITORS to a York park can now listen to residents speaking about what Rowntree means to them - thanks to an oral history project.
An interactive audio-listening post has been created in Rowntree Park as part of a city-wide project by the Rowntree Society, called York Remembers Rowntree.
Supported by the Heritage Lottery Fund, hundreds of York citizens' memories have been collected, and the audio post, situated by the park's reading cafe, features eight of them.
People simply have to select a memory, turn a dial, crank a handle and then listen to a unique piece of York history as it unfolds.
The choices include a woman sharing her love of the Joseph Rowntree Theatre,a former factory worker describing how to pack a box of Black Magic, another describing how peppermint was used in Polos and an apprentice sharing an embarrassing encounter when fixing a conveyor machine.
Yesterday's unveiling of the post was accompanied by a small exhibition in the Reading Café, with exhibits including a Rowntree’s fireman’s helmet, Black Magic Boxes, a selection of original workforce documentation and a replica of one of the psychometric tests used to assess workers entering the factory.
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