About Us
Bedford and Invisible Folk
Bedford is a town rich in history, creativity and diversity.
Invisible Folk has been working with Bedford in a variety of different ways since 2019, to share that heritage, artistry and community engagement.
We have worked with the Borough Council, The Higgins Bedford Museum, The High Street Heritage Action Zone, with Bedford Radio and with Bedford Independent.
There is no end to the vitality of the people of Bedford and we intend to go on sharing it.
If you are from somewhere other than Bedford and think we could work with you to bring out the creativity and community engagement in your town, write now and see what we can do.
About Us
Invisible Folk's Walking Tour of Bedford High Street
This is a digital walking tour of Bedford High Street hosted by IZI Travel (an app on your phone) created by Invisible Folk in partnership with the Borough Council as part of their Community Engagement programme.
We interviewed historians, museum curators and lots of people who grew up using the High Street for shopping, meeting friends, starting a business; all life is there. We walk from John Bunyan's statue at the top of the High Street down to St Paul's church.
You can learn a lot about your town by following this free tour.
Preview via this link where you will see a list of tour stopping points, select each one to listen the commentary.
Mandela Memories podcast
On 7th April 2000 Nelson Mandela came to Bedford to dedicate the bust of Trevor Huddleston on Silver Street.
As part of the High Street Heritage Action Zone project and in partnership with Bedford Borough Council and funded by Historic England this podcast captures the memories of those who commissioned the statue, organised the visit and saw him in the High Street on that memorable day.
This is the authentic voice of Bedford revelling in a cherished memory. Rarely has a single event been recalled with such joy. Every witness tells how the day was truly special and lives in their memory today.
Oral History
Retired Caribbean Nurses’ Association (RCNA)
As part of its Sharing History project the RCNA (Bedford) has been contacting retired nurses who studied, worked or lived in Bedford. In one-to-one interviews their stories are being recorded by Oral History Society-trained volunteers. These stories will be donated to The Higgins, Bedford (museum) to share with communities and schools in the borough. Invisible Folk were delighted to be asked to record these stories and experiences for posterity.
About Us
Training and Development
Invisible Folk will teach you how to make a podcast and how to conduct better interviews. Here we are training Central Beds Council. We all had a lot of fun.
Lacemakers
Lacemakers' Answer
In 2020 Invisible Folk obtained their third Arts Council Grant. It was to write a play exploring gender roles in Lacemaking in the nineteenth century. We also commissioned Catherine Earnshaw, Gemma Ghawaja and Jon Bickley to create new musical settings for Lace Tells and other folk songs. These songs are available on the Lacemakers playlist.
Radio and Podcasts
Bedford Radio
The Invisible Folk Club is a weekly music show on Bedford Radio. Tune in on Friday night at 9pm to hear presenter Jon Bickley and producer Steve Yarwood play the best folk and roots music. If you miss it live you can find it on Mixcloud or the Invisible Folk Club podcast feed at your usual provider. (inc Spotify and Apple Music)
Bedford Independent
Our podcast series has featured many community leaders in Bedford. We talked to Erica Roffe about the role of local journalism.
Podcast guests. Pea Stepney, Sharon De Leonardis, Lydia Saul, Jo Hudson-Lett, Rick Kirby (the man who built the faces), Jack Sharp and many more
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