The Digital Villages Research Network

Our second group of researchers, Amanda, Roger and Marion met at Carlin How Jubilee Hall yesterday for an introduction to the DVN by Paul and Carrie. It’s great to have new people coming on board and we are really looking forward to working in Carlin How and the surrounding area. It’s also fascinating to learn about the different villages and towns in East Cleveland. This group will join the first group of researchers in helping out with the ICT mapping. We are looking forward to our second workshop next week.

The community researchers from Carlin How (Amanda, Marion and Roger) and Margrove Park (Marian with Margaret), along with Steve and Carrie, met again today to take part in the return leg of the photographic walkabout in Carlin How.

 

We rendezvoused at the primary school and started the walkabout at the pond and the railway line which leads to the steelworks.

 

 

After gaining some photos there we then went back via Amanda’s house where she showed us some photos of her house and the street when it was flooded. We then walked up to the row of village shops before crossing the road and going down to the bottom part of Carlin How to photograph the churches, Mount Pleasant, the steelworks and the beautiful coastline from the top of the cliffs.

 

Here you can see the jetty at Skinningrove and a little further on, the village of Skinningrove in the valley below.

 

 

 

 

 

The weather was mostly kind, with the exception of some strong gusts of wind. The walkabouts to date have been so interesting in terms of learning about local history and the researchers’ own experiences of their local communities. It has also been a good opportunity for cross-village networking and getting to know each other more. We hope that the resulting postcards will facilitate some great community stories.

 

 

Steve and I went to meet three potential community researchers, Amanda, Marion and Roger, at Carlin How today. Everyone met at Whitecliffe School to discuss the DVN project. All three are interested in taking part and we have arranged for Paul to visit them again this coming Friday to confirm participation.

The Carlin How group are currently developing their village website and have been working with Steve in dedicated web sessions at the school. They are keen to continue with these developments and the second part of the afternoon was devoted to generating community images for the website. The group went on a walkabout around the village and took photos of key community resources. Here the aim is to create a business directory with photographs and contact details for use by community-based businesses and residents.

One of the interesting findings from the walkabout was related to the number of shops and services located in the village. Group members were surprised at how many shops and businesses were on their doorstep, showing the value of going out and researching local communities’ assets and resources.

The DVN team looks forward to working with Carlin How as a research node and to signing up the new community researchers.

The image here was taken outside the Working Men’s Club in Carlin How – from left to right, Roger, Amanda, Carrie and Marion.