Rural Life
Please note that this page is under construction
The recordings in the East Midlands Oral History Archive contain memories of rural life stretching back to the 1880s. These recordings look at different aspects of life between the world wars and highlight day-to-day village life, including celebration days and social class. They also cover working lives such as farming, and the extractive industries to the north and west of the county.
It might seem strange to have a section looking at rural life in a website about Leicester, but in 1918 the suburbs that became part of Leicester in 1935 - Aylestone, Belgrave, Evington, Humberstone, Knighton - were all distinct rural communities. By using illustrations from the wider county, we can give an idea of what life was like in the villages that were consumed by the expanding city from the 1920s onwards.
The following compilation recordings from the 1980s look at rural areas or issues: