BORN & BRED
A Community History of Broadwindsor, Dorset
The Born & Bred project was a wide-ranging community heritage initiative developed by Windrose, and centred on the Dorset village of Broadwindsor. Conceived as a follow-on to the earlier The Place I Love project (2021–2022), it builds on Windrose’s long-standing approach of combining oral history, creative arts and community participation to explore rural life and identity.
Origins and Aims
Launched in October 2024 and running over several months, Born & Bred was designed to capture the living memories of the village at a time of change. With new families moving into Broadwindsor after the pandemic, the project sought both to preserve older residents’ recollections and to strengthen connections across generations.
Led by Windrose’s Margery Hookings — and Broadwindsor resident — the initiative focused particularly on residents aged 55 and over who had been “born and bred” in the village or nearby. Their experiences formed the backbone of a varied programme intended to document, interpret and share Broadwindsor’s heritage.
Early Development and Project Strands
From the outset, Born & Bred was conceived as more than a single output. Instead, it unfolded through a series of interconnected strands:
Recording oral history interviews with long-standing residents
Producing a locally grounded history book
Creating a short documentary film
Developing artworks inspired by the writings of Thomas Fuller, Broadwindsor’s former rector
Staging a film show and final community event
Fuller’s aphorisms — including “charity begins at home – but it should not end there” — provided a thematic thread linking past and present, and became a creative catalyst for local artists and community groups.
Gathering Stories and Community Involvement
A central phase of the project involved extensive oral history work. Participants were interviewed about their lives, family histories and memories of village life in earlier decades. These accounts revealed changes in farming, schooling, social life and the rhythms of rural existence, while also highlighting enduring aspects of community spirit.
The process itself became a social activity, bringing people together to reminisce, reconnect and reflect. Feedback from participants emphasised the emotional impact of revisiting shared memories and the value of preserving them for future generations.
Creative Outputs and Interpretation
The material gathered fed into a range of creative outputs. A locally produced book combined interviews, archive photographs and short histories of village institutions such as the school, allotments and cricket ground.
Alongside this, visual artist Jemma Thompson incorporated Fuller’s sayings into painted designs within the village pub, while community groups interpreted his words through a themed flower festival in the church during Broadwindsor’s Oak Apple weekend in 2025.
A short film (see above), made by Windrose filmmaker Simone Einfalt, documented both the stories collected and the making of the project itself, reflecting Windrose’s longstanding commitment to combining archive, storytelling and creative media.
Book Launch and Fundraising Impact
The Born & Bred book was launched in November 2025 and quickly became a focal point for the community. Sales generated funds not only for Windrose but also for local amenities, with proceeds supporting the village shop and pub.
This practical outcome reinforced one of the project’s key themes: that documenting heritage can have tangible benefits for sustaining rural communities in the present.
Final Film Show and Community Event
The project culminated in a public film screening and community gathering at Comrades Hall in early 2026. The event brought together the film, archive footage and the wider body of work produced over the course of the project, offering a shared moment of reflection and celebration.
As with many Windrose projects, the final event was not simply a conclusion but a form of community reconnection — linking past and present through collective viewing and discussion.
Legacy and Significance
Born & Bred stands as a continuation of Windrose Rural Media Trust’s long-running mission to give “a voice for country people” and to preserve rural life through collaborative media work.
By combining oral history, publication, visual art and film, the project has created a lasting record of Broadwindsor’s social history while strengthening local identity. Its outputs — from the book to the recorded interviews — remain accessible resources for the village, ensuring that personal memories are not lost but become part of a shared archive.
In capturing both “then and now”, Born & Bred demonstrates how community-led heritage projects can bridge generations, celebrate local distinctiveness and contribute to the cultural life of rural England.
Thank you to Broadwindsor Group Parish Community Land Trust for its support in making the Born & Bred film.
In addition, the project was supported by a grant from Dorset Council’s Community and Culture Fund, the South West Procurement Alliance/LHC Community Benefit Fund, Magna Housing Association’s Community Improvement Fund, and the British Association for Local History’s Small Grants Programme.
Read a Case Study reflecting on the success of the Born and Bred project prepared by one of the project's funders, the South West Procurement Alliance/LHC. The South West Procurement Alliance (SWPA) is a not-for-profit public sector procurement body that develops and manages compliant frameworks to help local authorities, housing organisations and other public clients efficiently procure construction, refurbishment and maintenance work to deliver better buildings, homes and community outcomes.