Chard Museum's Podcast

Heritage Open Days is a nation wide community led festival of history and culture, involving thousands of local volunteers and organisations. Every year it brings people together to celebrate their heritage, community and history. As part of this event volunteers from Chard Museum took the community on tours of The Guildhall. In this episode we join in on one of the tours and take a deeper look into the wonderful Guildhall at the heart of our town.

There’s also a fascinating conversation with artist Jenny Mellings. Jenny is an artist who worked with the community of Chard on The Banners of Chard project, managed by Somerset Art Works. Jenny facilitated thirty-eight workshops that took place between July 2021 and March 2022, focusing on community, wellbeing, nature, the town centre, local heritage, food, culture, diversity, geography and industry. The project was part of ‘Culturally Chard’ - the Chard High Street Heritage Action Zone cultural programme, funded by Historic England, Arts Council England and the National Heritage Memorial Fund.

Don’t forget, if you have any stories to share please do contact: info@chardmuseum.co.uk

ChardCast is a project produced by Richard Tomlinson and managed by Chard Museum on behalf of Culturally Chard. It is funded through South Somerset District Council and Historic England. You can listen to episodes of ChardCast by visiting: www.chardmuseum.co.uk

Imagine creating your own exhibition or gallery of artworks inspired by you! What would you like people to know about you? What are the important things in your home that are close to your heart? In this episode we hear all about the important and meaningful museum collections that belong to children from Avishayes Primary School in Chard.

Thank you to the wonderful children and supportive staff at Avishayes Primary School for helping us create this beautiful recorded conversation.

Don’t forget, if you have any stories to share please do contact: info@chardmuseum.co.uk

ChardCast is a project produced by Richard Tomlinson and managed by Chard Museum on behalf of Culturally Chard. It is funded through South Somerset District Council and Historic England. You can listen to the full length episodes of ChardCast by visiting www.chardmuseum.co.uk

In this special episode of ChardCast we hear real life stories from young Ukrainians. The recordings were made at Nightingales, a wonderful Ukrainian support group who meet in Chard. In this episode, part 2 - Independence and Life in Somerset, we focus on long journeys to the UK and the quirks of living in Somerset.

Don’t forget, if you have any stories to share please do contact: info@chardmuseum.co.uk

ChardCast is a project produced by Richard Tomlinson and managed by Chard Museum on behalf of Culturally Chard. It is funded through South Somerset District Council and Historic England. You can listen to ChardCast by visiting www.chardmuseum.co.uk

In this special episode of ChardCast we hear real life stories from young Ukrainians. The recordings were made at Nightingales, a wonderful Ukrainian support group who meet in Chard. In this episode, part 1 - The start of the big war, we hear emotional accounts of the first days of war and young people trying to make sense of this terrible and chaotic situation.

We will publish part 2, that focuses on long journeys to the UK and the quirks of living in Somerset, next week.

Don’t forget, if you have any stories to share please do contact: info@chardmuseum.co.uk

ChardCast is a project produced by Richard Tomlinson and managed by Chard Museum on behalf of Culturally Chard. It is funded through South Somerset District Council and Historic England. You can listen to ChardCast by visiting www.chardmuseum.co.uk

This episode focuses on the life and achievements of John Stringfellow. Children from Redstart school visited Chard Museum and were treated to a Stringfellow presentation from museum volunteer Vince Lean. The children learnt about Stringfellow's life, work and passion. They were so inspired by this creative engineer and inventor that they went away and wrote a poem about him. Listen to the poem and discover more about the life and times of our very own pioneer of flight.

Don’t forget, if you have any stories to share please do contact: info@chardmuseum.co.uk

ChardCast is a project produced by Richard Tomlinson and managed by Chard Museum on behalf of Culturally Chard. It is funded through South Somerset District Council and Historic England. You can listen to the full length episodes of ChardCast by visiting www.chardmuseum.co.uk

Chard town has a huge and varied heritage. Listen to this ChardCast compilation to hear local volunteers and youngsters give you a flavour of their experiences of this amazing place. Get a glimpse of the Lace Industry in the mid 1800's; discover the inventions of Victorian Chard including prosthetics, powered flight and pioneering X-rays; explore the Reservoir - Chards natural gem.

Don’t forget, if you have any stories to share please do contact: info@chardmuseum.co.uk

ChardCast is a project produced by Richard Tomlinson and managed by Chard Museum on behalf of Culturally Chard. It is funded through South Somerset District Council and Historic England. You can listen to the full length episodes of ChardCast by visiting www.chardmuseum.co.uk

Welcome to episode 7 of ChardCast.

In this months episode join students from Holyrood School in a blue plaque walk and talk through the town. 

Have you ever wondered what life was like for the Lace Mill workers back in Victorian times? Have a listen to this fascinating episode and find out more about the history of the town and its people. Listen to the end, there’s a real insight from the students about what they’ve learnt and what they imagine a museum of the future could look like.

Thanks, as ever, to Chard Museum for making this episode possible and a big thank you to the students and the staff who accompanied us on our walk and helped out on the production process.

Don’t forget, if you have any stories to share please do contact: info@chardmuseum.co.uk


ChardCast is a project produced by Richard Tomlinson and managed by Chard Museum on behalf of Culturally Chard. It is funded through South Somerset District Council and Historic England. ChardCasts are all available via the Museum website at www.chardmuseum.co.uk

In March 2023 Chard's Ethnic Diverse Communities hosted a wonderful event called Chard Together: Chard Goes Global. It was supported by the Community Hub, Culturally Chard and Somerset Diverse Communities.

Chard Together celebrated the communities and cultures that make Chard special. It was a day of culturally diverse music, food, stories, dance and performance.

ChardCast set up a mini recording studio in the foyer of the GuildHall, and as visitors came through the doors they were asked two simple questions: 

• What do you think makes Chard such a special place?
• Can you  share your experience of the diverse community in the town?

This episode is an audio snapshot of their responses.

Don’t forget, if you have any stories to share please do contact: info@chardmuseum.co.uk

ChardCast is a project produced by Richard Tomlinson and managed by Chard Museum on behalf of Culturally Chard. It is funded through South Somerset District Council and Historic England. ChardCasts are all available via the Museum website at www.chardmuseum.co.uk

The fifth episode of ChardCast ‘Voices of Chard, the power of memories’ focuses on Oral History. 

Thanks to Sue Heward, a volunteer at Chard Museum, who describes her fascination with oral history and shares some of the stories she’s recorded over recent years.

Listen to a story from the 2nd World War, find out about an apprentice who worked at the Gillingham family firm in the 1940s and discover why it’s important to record the voices of ‘ordinary people’ - people who are actually extraordinary. These excerpts feature: Jason Hawkes, Bridget Sloley, Bob Hilton and Gordon Fowler and represent a tiny fraction of Sue's oral history recordings.

Don’t forget, if you have any stories to share please do contact: info@chardmuseum.co.uk

ChardCast is a project produced by Richard Tomlinson and managed by Chard Museum on behalf of Culturally Chard. It is funded through South Somerset District Council and Historic England. ChardCasts are all available via the Museum website at www.chardmuseum.co.uk

The fourth episode of ChardCast comes to you from the beautiful environment of Chard Reservoir Local Nature Reserve. Join volunteers and Rangers for an audio-walk that takes you on a journey to some special and unique places. Learn about bird-calls, flora and fauna (both native and non native) and discover some of the history of this magical and important place.

Many thanks to Hannah Stanton, Ranger with South Somerset District Council, for her insight and to: Jack, John, Tony and Dave, for their thoughts, memories and inspiration.

Chard Cast is a project produced by Richard Tomlinson and managed by Chard Museum on behalf of Culturally Chard. It is funded through South Somerset District Council and Historic England. ChardCasts are all available via the Museum website at www.chardmuseum.co.uk

In the third episode of ChardCast we join children from Chard School talking about amazing inventions and inspirational inventors of Chard. Our conversation covers subjects as diverse as x rays, flying machines and prosthetic limbs. We also get to hear some of the children’s own ideas on inventions they would create in the future.

Listen to the end to hear a folk song performed by Time and Tide that explores the alterations to the land and the people when industrialisation brought innovation and progress but also great dislocation for working folk.

Chard Cast is a 12-month project produced by Richard Tomlinson and managed by Chard Museum on behalf of Culturally Chard. It is funded through South Somerset District Council and Historic England. ChardCasts are all available via the Museum website at www.chardmuseum.co.uk

In this second episode of ChardCast we join children from Manor Court Community Primary School talking about their experience of performing in Chard Carnival. There’s also a fascinating and emotional insight into carnival over the years from Steve Dawe (a ‘carnivalite’ of 30 years), Jason Baker (Chairman of Chard Carnival Committee), Claire Brown (a member of Chard Carnival Committee for ten years) and Doreen Toms (a life member of Chard Carnival Committee for 50 years).

Chard Cast is a 12-month project produced by Richard Tomlinson and managed by Chard Museum on behalf of Culturally Chard. It is funded through South Somerset District Council and Historic England. ChardCasts are all available via the Museum website at www.chardmuseum.co.uk

In this first episode of ChardCast we join volunteers at Chard Museum talking about a selection of photographs from the museum archive. Find out how some aspects of Chard have changed over the years, whilst others remain the same. There’s also an insight into the camera’s unique ability to capture, sometimes unintended, details that spark memories. Listen to the end to find out more about Chard’s ‘Famous Five’.

Chard Cast is a 12-month project managed by Chard Museum on behalf of Culturally Chard. It is funded through South Somerset District Council and Historic England. ChardCasts are all available via the Museum website at www.chardmuseum.co.uk