Parker Pens
About the project
There was a genuine satisfaction about making things. It could be seen among all who had supplied the services, whether it was local bankers with credit or the local design firms. When a new pen was launched all the kids at the school went to see the thing our parents had put together. This sense of an integrated, productive community was quite astonishing. – ex Parker employee
Our project hopes to encourage an intergenerational understanding of Newhaven’s community heritage by involving school pupils in thinking about and meeting the people who worked there, some from as early as the 1950s, and before this their parents and grandparents. This is the first time these voices will be documented.
April 2024
Community-led project planning with PPF, ex-factory employees, local residents and the Newhaven Museum. This is when we found our interviewees too.
May to Sept 2024:
Oral History recordings
We interviewed 20 ex employees including Geoffrey Parker, the grandson of George Parker. It was important to transcribe the interviews to make them accessible to as many people as possible. Full transcriptions can be sent please contact us here.
Oct to Nov 2024: Claymation workshops
We worked with local primary school to connect children to local history in collaboration with the Newhaven Museum. Children then attended a series of animation workshops with Lara to make their very own claymation films. We screened these as some special school history assemblies.
November 2024
Creation of project deliverables – community consultation followed by designing a project
website and the creation of QR code signage to be placed at the old factory site.
Dec 2024 to Feb 2025
Further project-sharing to involve the wider community opening with a vintage-themed tea party and talk about Parker Pen Newhaven at the Hillcrest Centre.
