By ShellC 
I just completed an intensive subject called “Writing the City”. It was the third year I had the opportunity and had almost given up on making it happen. I’m so glad I didn’t. In our final class we had to present something about engaging with a particular urban space, and I decided to create a video about a park near where I live and how it has changed over my lifetime.
Because I first remember it as the local tip, and because in the days of film you weighed the value of each of the 24 precious exposures, I don’t have any photographs of this part of my memories. On a FB group called “I grew up in Chelsea and I remember when …”, I posted a photo of myself on the slide in the space’s next incarnation, asking if anyone happened to have a photograph of the tip it was before. I was blown away by how many people shared their own memories of the tip and the different playgrounds it has been since.
The local historical society came through for me with a photo of the tip, and I decided to incorporate the memories people had shared into the presentation. Even though it’s an online course, one of my fellow students happens to live a suburb away from me, and also grew up in the area. She saw my post and told me that her brother was one of the people named in one of the memories. She expressed her joy that even though he is no longer alive, her brother still lives in these random memories.
What a privilege it was to have these reflections shared with me by the wider community.