27th February 2004 "Get together" Celebrating the completion of the Oral History Project, "CHANGING LANDSCAPES, CHANGING LIVES" & Re-launch of the Exhibition, "Earth, Fire & Water" on the history of Bedfordshire brickworking, at the Forest Centre, Marston Moretaine.

Over 200 guests who contributed to the Oral History Project as either informants or volunteers attended the above event, marking the completion of this 3-year project (2001-2003), celebrating the life and work of people in the Marston Vale area. Their "voices" have been recorded for posterity and will be kept in an archive at the Forest Centre.

A cold biting wind deterred neither octogenarians nor even some recovering from illness attending this social event, hosted at the Forest Centre by Carmela Semeraro. There were many warm reunions of former friends and colleagues, a few people not having met since schooldays.

The spirit of the occasion, hinted at in the following photographs, was as much about guests (aged nine to ninety) chatting and exchanging reminiscences, as it was about formal speeches to acknowledge the guests' contributions to a successful realisation of this project. The occasion was a perfect example of the project's unique legacy - revealing the identity of the Marston Vale community and linking past and present with the future.

Guests exchanging views in the Temporary Exhibition gallery (Marston Vale Forest Centre, 27.02.2004) during the afternoon's reception to mark the completion of the Marston Vale Oral History Project "Changing Landscapes, Changing Lives". This coincided with the re-launch of the exhibition on the history of Bedfordshire brickworks "Earth, Fire & Water". (Photo credit: Guy Lambourne)

Oral History Project volunteers communing at the celebrations held at the Marston Vale Forest Centre, 27.02.2004, marking the completion of "Changing Landscapes, Changing Lives" which had occupied them, part-time, for the previous three years. (Photo credit: Guy Lambourne)

Maestro Liberato Iaciofano, former Marston Vale brickwork employee, provides live musical entertainment in the Temporary Exhibition gallery (Marston Vale Forest Centre, 27.02.2004) as part of the afternoon's celebrations marking the completion of the Oral History Project "Changing Landscapes Changing Lives". (Photo credit: Guy Lambourne)

Guests absorbing information from the exhibition "Earth, Fire & Water" at its re-launch to mark the completion of the Oral History Project Changing Landscapes, Changing Lives", in the Temporary Exhibition gallery, Marston Vale Forest Centre 27.02.2004. (Photo credit: Guy Lambourne)

General view of the Temporary Exhibition gallery (Marston Vale Forest Centre, 27.02.2004) during the celebration to mark the completion of the Marston Vale Oral History Project "Changing Landscapes, Changing Lives". (Photo credit: Guy Lambourne)