Thanks to The National Lottery Heritage Fund, we’ve been awarded £237,522 to uncover and celebrate Knowsley’s rich food and farming heritage, and secure it for future generations with a permanent home at the Knowsley Archives in Kirkby.
This project will use inspiration from the past to create a better food future in Knowsley, celebrating the area’s distinct farming and food heritage from 50+ years ago.
Our focus will be the lost agriculture; how residents grew, produced and ate, local, seasonal food. We will work with former agricultural workers and residents, exploring Knowsley’s Archives to understand changes in land use, employment and lifestyle.
This project will enable us to identify the hidden heritage of agriculture, which is all around us in the names of roads, memories of older residents and the unexplored archive ephemera which includes oral recordings of farming families; the internment records of prisoners of war who were sent to work on the land; as well as the poetry of Annie Harrison, who grew up in a farming family.
No longer at risk of disappearing, Knowsley’s food and farming heritage will instead be preserved, connect people and be brought to life by helping to highlight today’s unmet nutrition, horticulture and nature connection needs, and offering inspiration from the past to solve them.
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£237,522
A National Lottery Heritage Fund grant of £237,522 to explore, record, and celebrate the food and farming heritage
50 years
Over 50 years of lost heritage to be uncovered including how residents grew, produced and ate, seasonal food.
10th
Knowsley is ranked 10th in the ranking of food deserts in the UK
The agricultural and food production history of Knowsley will link up disparate age groups and life experiences within the borough. Our project will serve as a powerful tool for community development, education and cultural preservation, enriching the lives of residents and strengthening the community.
Volunteers, local groups, college students and schools will be able to take part in the project through creative, celebratory and investigative activities and events led by expert practitioners, allowing people from across Knowsley to enjoy and play a part in recording the farming heritage.
We’re now actively recruiting for volunteers to work with us, visit the Growing Knowsley’s Future site to find out more about the project and how you can join in.
