Coalville-based community arts organisation, Mantle Arts, has launched a new collection of CDs and booklets as part of their project, North West Leicestershire Voices, bringing local people's memories of the past to life.

In the 1980s and early 1990s, Mantle Arts made a series of recordings of local people talking about their memories of living in North West Leicestershire.

The oldest people recorded were born in the nineteenth century, and their memories range through two world wars, working in the pits, stone masonry, grave digging, childhood games, and cinema in the district.

The new bundle of three CDs, with accompanying booklets, includes a selection from the oral histories covering memories of work, war and childhood in the Leicestershire coalfields.

Matthew Pegg, Project Director at Mantle Arts said: "These recordings are fascinating and open a window back into the past. The booklets, by local writer Andy Barrett, fill in the historical background. I'm very excited to be able to share them with everyone who's interested in the history of the area."

Along with preserving the recordings via digitisation, the project will use them in a range of projects to make this archive of local history more accessible to the community.

This will include four exhibits, installations and displays, a podcast series, and educational resources for schools, all supported by a £65,000 grant from The National Lottery Heritage Fund.

The project will also soon be looking for members of the community who would like to share their memories and experiences of life in North West Leicestershire, in order to create a new series of oral history recordings for future generations.

The booklets can be purchased via Mantle Arts bookshop site and cost £7.50 for all three, visit mantlelanepress.co.uk.