Ilmington Remembers the 1950's

Ilmington is a special place; some families in this Warwickshire corner of the North Cotswold’s can trace their ancestors back 400 years.

The 1950s was a period of immense change in Britain as the country recovered from the aftermath of the Second World War and which accelerated after the accession of HM the Queen in 1952 and the birth of the new Elizabethan age. It is the Diamond Jubilee of that event which provided the inspiration to look back to the first decade of Her Majesty’s reign and capture local memories of those days for posterity.

How did the villagers who lived here during this time react to those changes?
What are their memories of family life/childhood in Ilmington?
How did life in the wider world impinge on this remote rural community?
What were they doing on the day of the Queen's coronation in 1953? What other memorable events can they recall?
In what ways is village life different now?
What aspect of life sixty years’ ago would they most want to preserve?

This year long project began by recording the memories of people who lived in Ilmington during the 1950's. These oral histories then provided the material for the creation of a play about village life in those days and the impact that events of national significance had on people's lives.

This original piece of theatre will coincide with the four day countrywide celebration to mark the Queen's Diamond Jubilee in June 2012. It will be performed by actors from the village and shared with audiences from the local community.