Walsall Archive for All blog - Latest post: Help us shape the story of Walsall
September 2026
Join us at our first Community Panel for the archives
What does Walsall mean to you?
Perhaps it’s the street where you grew up, the factory where your family worked, the bus you caught to school, the pub or community centre where people came together, the canal you walked along, or a photograph that instantly takes you back to another time.
For the Walsall Archive for All (WAFA) project, these everyday memories and experiences are at the heart of what we are trying to uncover.
Walsall has a fascinating history, but no archive can ever tell the whole story. Some communities, experiences and everyday lives are better represented than others, and there are stories that risk being lost simply because nobody has had the opportunity to record them.
That is why, over the past year, we have been getting out into communities across Walsall; listening, talking, asking people what matters to them and sharing the work and stories of local photographer Jack Haddock, who spent decades cycling around Walsall with his camera, quietly recording the places, people and everyday life he encountered.
Through these conversations we are opening ideas up around the way we move and encounter Walsall and have highlighted family photographs, businesses, community organisations and places that might otherwise never make it into an official record.
We've also discovered just how much people love photography.
Younger people have been particularly interested in Jack's photographs, transport and the opportunity to learn photography themselves. Older generations have shared memories of industry, work, markets and community life.
And sometimes the most interesting stories have been the ones we didn't expect- the hidden explanations behind local places and names, memories of buildings that have disappeared, and stories about the people who helped make Walsall what it is today.
Get involved with our new community panel
We are now establishing a Community Archive Panel to bring local people into the project in a more active and regular way.
The panel won't be about being an archive expert. It's about bringing your experience, ideas and perspective. Members will have the opportunity to help shape exhibitions, contribute to future community engagement and influence the longer-term development of Walsall Archives. The panel will work alongside the project team, offering ideas, insight and constructive challenge.
It is free to participate, and all are welcome.
If you have a connection to Walsall, an interest in local history, a passion for photography, memories you'd like to share, or simply ideas about what you think an archive should look like in the future, we want to hear from you.
Our first Community Archive Panel meeting is planned for 16 October 2026, at Nash Dom Community Hub. This is an opportunity to come along, meet others who care about Walsall and find out more about what being part of the panel could involve.
You don't need to know exactly what you could contribute or commit a huge amount of time. You don't need to arrive with a box of old photographs. And you don't need to consider yourself a “history person”.
You just need to be interested in helping make sure that the Walsall of tomorrow can see the Walsall that we know today, and be up for joining a conversation with fellow members of the community alongside a decent cup of tea!
Email us: WAFAProject@walsall.gov.uk