Between 2003 and 2006, Hazel Weedon and Jan Rennie interviewed four long standing Hempstead residents (Elsie Bacon, Margaret Drane, Dorothy Fleming and Nellie Halls) about life in the village between the wars. The recordings were deposited with the Essex Records Office (ERO) in Chelmsford. The links below are provided by courtesy of the Essex Sound and Video Archive of ERO, whose co-operation and encouragement in this part of the project has been invaluable.
- Margaret Drane speaks to Hazel Weedon in March 2006 (part 1: 1h 2m)
- Margaret Drane speaks to Hazel Weedon in March 2006 (part 2: 1h 2m)
- Dorothy Fleming speaks to Hazel Weedon in October 2003 (1h 3m)
- Elsie Bacon speaks to Hazel Weedon in October 2003 (1h 2m)
- Nellie Halls speaks to Jan Rennie in 2003-6 (14m 28s)
More recently, in 2024, Diana Frost and Ross Midgley have interviewed some of Hempstead’s longer standing residents. Transcripts and/or recordings of these conversations are given below.
- Brian Gypps talks to Ross about growing up on Moss’s farm (4m 18s)
- Conversation with Ian Beaton, 4 July 2024 (transcript)
- Jess and Martyn Long, the second of four generations at Bachelor’s Meadow, talk to Diana about the smallholding that Jess’ parents set up in 1972 (8m 44s)
- Pat Thomas recounts the lovely story of Mrs Norman’s Adventure (2m 18s)
- The Great Well Yards fire of Christmas 1957, as recounted by Brian Gypps (3m 36s)
- Chris Bampton and Sarah Louise talk to Diana about running the village shop in the early 1980s (10m 23s)
- Angela and Richard Crane describe their experiences as the shop’s last owners. (7m 53s)