Stories From the Quarter is a National Centre for Writing project, funded by National Lottery Heritage Fund. It aims to document and celebrate the stories of the vibrant and diverse communities that live and work in Norwich.
The first edition focused on Norfolk’s thriving Bengali and Sylheti-speaking communities.
Take a journey of discovery through oral histories, recorded with the vibrant and diverse communities that have lived and worked on King St and Magdalen St and surrounding areas.
Listen to the stories
Tap the images to hear and read the stories from each location.
Download the Stories From the Quarter map
Explore the lives of Bengali and Sylheti-speaking communities living and working in Norwich.
Follow the walking trail around Norwich UNESCO City of Literature to hear a first-hand account of the lives of residents: their memories of migration, of growing up as second and third-generation Bengalis, and of how Norwich has changed over time.
Scan to start your journey:
With special thanks to Mahbubar (Mash) Rahman, Shagufta Sharmeen, Ummay Honi Lethe, Access Creative College, Jason Wick at Goat Pen Studio, and Colin Fraser.
Inspiration for Stories from the Quarter came from the King St Community Voices project, 2011, which collected over 50 interviews from those who remembered living and working on King St throughout the 20th century. These are publicly available in the National Archives at the Norfolk Record Office. This new collection of Bengali oral histories will also be housed here once complete.
Thank you to the Dragon Hall Volunteers who helped us reconnect with the King St Community Voices collection, trained the school tutors and taken oral history interviewees on a tour of Dragon Hall.
I do think this is a great platform for us to be noted as part of Norfolk’s history… I think it’s a wonderful idea in that [people will] understand that Norfolk is not just a place of history but it’s also a cultural place.
Throughout June and July 2022, five Norfolk primary schools took part in a three workshops series that saw over 240 children exploring Dragon Hall’s medieval past, King St’s life as a bustling mid-century high street and Magdalen St’s present-day identity as a popular restaurant area. The tutors, Avani Shah and Amanda Addison, led classes through a series of activities including creative writing, drawing, exploring objects, listening to oral histories and independent exploring.
Thank you to participating schools who produced some fantastic creative writing: Magdalen Gates Primary School, Hemblington Primary School, Mulbarton Primary School, Sprowston Junior School and Colman Junior School.
Listen to the poems written by these students
Uncover Tales
This resource pack encourages young people to explores writing using the senses, and creating poetry. Scan to download and take home:
Improving the cultural capital of our children is something that is vital to the primary experience. Teaching children to draw inspiration from their local environment is a fantastic skill as well.
Made possible by the National Lottery Heritage Fund, with thanks to National Lottery players.
