Would you like to develop new skills and to learn more about our heritage through a series of courses and events?
The Altered Images project is a three-year activity programme which aims to connect our communities through the interests of heritage and local history, focusing on the changes through the years.
The project, made possible with £250,000 from the National Lottery Heritage Fund, is being run by the Rhondda Cynon Taf Council and will suit people of all ages and abilities – all you need is a passion for your area and for local history.
Councillor Ann Crimmings, Rhondda Cynon Taf Council Cabinet Member for Environment and Leisure, with responsibility for Heritage Services, said: “Capturing our past is so important for our future and I look forward to seeing the final product that is being produced as part of the Altered Images Project.
“Researching and recording all of our memorial and monuments across the County Borough will provide us with a valuable record of our heritage and the changing faces of our towns, villages and communities over many years.”
The main aim of the Altered Images project is to help record and research memorials and monuments throughout Rhondda Cynon Taf as well as capturing the diverse stories and memories of our neighbourhoods.
A digital archive will then be created to preserve our heritage for future generations to learn and enjoy
The project aims to look at how views of the past have changed over time, and how understanding the past can challenge our assumptions about where we come from and how our communities developed.
The Altered Images project recently held two Oral History Training Days, where community groups were taught interviewing skills and how to use industry-standard recording equipment, in preparation for the oral history recordings they will undertake for the digital archive.
Last month a ‘Mapping Memories’ event took place at Aberdare Library, with the public sharing their own special memories and stories of the town and taking a look at the many changes that have taken place over many years.
A FREE digital photography course is now being held, in partnership with RCT Adult Education. The five-week course takes place every Thursday (10am until 1pm) at Lido Ponty, The National Lido of Wales, at Ynysangharad War Memorial Park, Pontypridd.
Using your own smart phones or digital cameras, the course will cover basic digital photography skills and techniques, using historical landscapes, including monuments and memorials, as its theme. All work will be uploaded to the project’s digital archive.
