SANKEY POSTCARD PROJECTS
IN 2018 we secured early funding from Heritage Lottery to begin developing a plan of activity which we later commenced in mid-2019 surrounding The Sankey Photographic Archive and ultimately leading to the creation of our online digital archive. Explore this archive here.
THE SANKEYS were a father and son duo who documented life in Barrow and Cumbria over 70 years, capturing the landscape, cultural changes, individuals, industry & tourism (plus much more). The photographs they created from their photography were posted all over the world!
We’ve been working closely with the Sankey family since 2016 and are delighted to have curated multiple exhibitions and community projects. We are looking forward to working with this fantastic collection more in many future projects.
POSTCARD PILOT PROJECT
We organised four postcard workshops which took place on Tuesday afternoons in November and December 2018. The workshops were open to everyone and over 20 people took part.
Tim Sankey, a Sankey postcard collector based in France kindly shared a selection of 100 postcards with us. They had been posted between the years of 1911 and 1942 and sent as far as Latvia.
Each workshop was different. Over the four weeks we researched, transcribed and mapped the messages and journey’s the cards went on.
PAST WORKSHOPS & EVENTS
ST BERNARD'S ENRICHMENT DAY
In 2018, we spent a day with St Bernard’s Year 8 Students running a series of five different workshops that explored the Sankey Collection through photography, writing, film-making, art and performance. They brought Sankey postcards to life using a green screen and performance techniques. See their film below:
SANKEY CELEBRATION EVENT
On December 13th 2018 we held an exhibition of all the wonderful work that has been created during the Sankey Postcard Project. Over 60 people came along for a feast of food and drink, music and a presentation about the project.
BARROW MARKET STALL
We held a display of Sankey Postcards in Barrow Market on Friday 7th December, 10 am – 12noon. We invited people to share their memories and ideas for the project and to join us for the Celebration event.
SANKEY PRESENTATION - Cumbria Industrial History Society
We held an Introductory presentation about the project in November at Greenodd Village Hall.
The evening had been organised by Cumbria Industrial History Society and was free for all to attend.
We brought along over 100 original Sankey postcards and artefacts from Barrow Local Archive and Study Centre and local historian Geoff Holme showed us some interesting examples from the collection.