Walsall Archive for All blog - Your Walsall on water!
WAFA On The Road
Part 1
At the heart of the Walsall Archive for All (WAFA) project is a simple but important ambition: to make Walsall's archives more inclusive, accessible and reflective of the people who live here today.
Over the past few months, we've been taking the archive out into communities across the borough, meeting people where they are, sharing images from the remarkable Jack Haddock Collection.
Our latest community engagement event, Your Walsall on Water, took that conversation onto the borough's historic waterways.
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Delivered as part of the wider WAFA project, in collaboration with IKON Gallery’s Slow Boat, the event offered families and members of the public the chance to experience Walsall from a different perspective while exploring local stories, sharing memories and discovering more about the project.
Inspired by Jack Haddock's photographs, which so often captured life along Walsall's canals, participants enjoyed a relaxed hour-long boat journey packed with creative activities designed to spark conversation and reflection.
Through our Map Your Walsall activity, passengers marked important places, favourite routes and meaningful locations on a shared map, creating a collective picture of the borough through the eyes of its residents.
Alongside this, our Story Stations invited people to share memories of favourite journeys, neighbourhoods and places that hold personal significance, adding new voices and experiences to Walsall's growing community story.
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Although spaces were limited, we welcomed 12 participants, including one family who travelled from Walsall to Tipton specifically to take part. Their enthusiasm highlighted the appetite for opportunities to engage with local heritage in new and creative ways.
There was something especially fitting about travelling along the waterways that Jack Haddock photographed so regularly and with such affection. Looking out across the canals while reflecting on the past encouraged participants to think not only about how Walsall has changed, but also about the places and experiences that continue to shape the borough today.
Your Walsall on water in pictures
Explore a few moments from the day in our short reel.
Get in touch!
As the WAFA project continues, every conversation, memory and story shared helps build a richer, more representative archive for future generations. While our volunteer opportunities are currently fully subscribed as we work on bringing the Jack Haddock Collection online, this may change in the future.
In the meantime, keep an eye on our channels for an exciting new community archive appeal coming soon. Email us to get in touch.