Industry: water, steel & energy
Number of items in collection: 1067
Short description:
Recordings in this collection can be played by anyone.
In-depth oral history interviews documenting the lives and careers of those who worked in the electricity, water, steel and oil and gas industries in the UK over the past century.
Oral history recordings provide valuable first-hand testimony of the past. The views and opinions expressed in oral history interviews are those of the interviewees, who describe events from their own perspective. The interviews are historical documents and their language, tone and content might in some cases reflect attitudes that could cause offence in today’s society.
Long description:
Recordings in this collection can be played by anyone.
In-depth oral history interviews documenting the lives and careers of those who worked in the electricity, water, steel and oil and gas industries in the UK over the past century.
Oral history recordings provide valuable first-hand testimony of the past. The views and opinions expressed in oral history interviews are those of the interviewees, who describe events from their own perspective, which may only be a partial view of a larger organisation or historical event. The interviews are historical documents and their language, tone and content might in some cases reflect attitudes that could cause offence in today’s society.
These first-hand accounts chart the recent history and development of the UK’s utilities and energy industries. The interviews feature reflections about the individual’s early life and background, education and their careers.
An Oral History of the Electricity Supply Industry in the UK (catalogue no. C1495) collects the memories and experiences of those who worked in the industry at various levels. Interviews explore themes such as nationalisation in the 1940s, privatisation in 1990-5, the increase in scale of coal-fired power stations, the shift to gas during the 1990s and the development of renewable energy sources since the 1970s.
Lives in Steel (catalogue no. C532); interviews recorded in 1991-1992 comprise the first national oral history of the steel industry. In their own words, steelworkers discuss the skills, hazards and complexity of producing steel, with interviewees drawn from a broad spectrum of occupations within the steel industry across the UK.
An Oral History of the Water Industry (catalogue no. C1364) tracks the many structural, technological and commercial changes that have taken place within living memory through the life stories of a wide range of people who have experience of working at all levels of the industry.
Coming soon
Lives in the Oil Industry (catalogue no. C963) was a joint National Life Stories and University of Aberdeen project (which ran 2000-2004) which documented the origins and evolution of the UK North Sea oil and gas industry through the life histories of people who have worked in or alongside it.
What the interviews tell us
One-to-one oral history interviews explore memories and recount narratives rarely found elsewhere. Personal testimony fills knowledge gaps, provides new insights, challenges stereotypical views, and overturns orthodoxies.
These recordings reveal collective memory, individual agency, gender, skill, influence and intentionality. Shifting consumer and educational trends and debates emerge alongside the impact of changing technologies, techniques and political context.
Ethical use of oral history
The interviewees have been generous in sharing their memories - often traumatic, confidential and intimate - and listeners are asked to treat this material with respect and sensitivity.
- Recordings should be analysed and presented in context, so that the interviewee’s meaning is not misconstrued.
- Quotations and audio clips should be referenced as, for example: “Bryan Townsend by Thomas Lean, January – June 2013, An Oral History of the Electricity Supply Industry in the UK, reference C1495/06 track x, © The British Library”.
Each interviewee whose recording appears on this site has assigned copyright to The British Library Board and given their consent for the recording to be used for educational study. We have made every effort to contact all the interviewees and inform them about this project. However should any participant wish to discuss their involvement they should contact the Lead Curator, Oral History at the British Library (oralhistory@bl.uk)
Oral history at the British Library
The interviews on this site are a small selection from the many thousands held in the Oral History section of the British Library. These recordings go back over 100 years and cover many facets of life in Britain.
Many interviews were gathered through National Life Stories, an externally-funded unit within the Library established in 1987 to “record first-hand experiences of as wide a cross-section of present-day society as possible”.
All recordings on this site are governed by licence agreements.