The Story-Phone
As part of Our Year 2024, Story Trails researched and generated ten tales from Wakefield District that showcase its rich oral history. And all of these tales are hosted on the story-phone!
Listeners simply select a story from the phonebook, pick up the receiver, listen for the dial tone and dial the appropriate number. Each story is broken across three tracks, so listeners can even choose to mix them up. For example, they may begin the tale of the giant Padfoot of Upton, and then jump to The Battle of Wakefield, thus creating their own story.
The phonebook also includes the text for each story, enabling listeners to read along.
Highlights from the 2024 Tour
Hiring the Story-Phone
The audio and is available to freely access via the Story Trails website and podcast channel, but for a more interactive experience, you may wish to hire the story-phone for a week in your school
Hiring the phone is a cost effective way of incorporating oracy, local history and heritage, storytelling and literacy in the classroom.
You’ll have the phone for an entire week, enabling you to use it however you’d prefer. For instance, you may choose to use the phone with one year group, creating a range of cross curricular work in relation to it. Or you decide to plot a ‘school tour’ so that the phone visits every year group throughout the week. The choice is yours.
What Does It Cost?
- For schools based in Wakefield District: £200/week (includes set up and removal);
- For schools outside of the Wakefield District: £200/week PLUS the cost of postage and packing to and from your school (in this instance you will be provided with clear guidance on how to set the phone up etc.)
How to Hire
Get in touch via the contact form and I’ll be in touch to discuss your needs and get it all booked in.
Optional Extras
You may want to explore also booking a Storytelling Experience in your school. If this is the case, then just let me know through the contact form and I’ll be happy to explore this option with you.
If these stories are local to Wakefield, why are they relevant to me if I’m not based there?
England used to have a rich oral tradition, which included composing and sharing poetry, creating folk songs that travelled across regions, and telling local legends. Unfortunately, England in particular has lost much of this heritage. But there are common themes across those stories that we do still have. The giant black dog, for instance, may only be called Padfoot in West Yorkshire, but it is present across all of England. Stories travel across boundaries. They always have and they always will. These tales may have a special significance to someone from Wakefield District or West Yorkshire, but they are also significant to us all.
What if I want to access the stories for free without needing to hire the phone?
The story audio is freely available via here, and you are very welcome to access them this way. When you start listening in the podcast app of your choice, the audio transcript will also display.
You can also discover more about how I developed each story here.
I’d love to hear what you and your school/class think of them and how you’ve used them, so please do get in touch and let me know. You can also @ me across most social platforms, my handle is @StoryTrailsUK.
Why did you make these stories?
I’m a storyteller so I have an interest in preserving the old tales. Sadly, many have already faded from memory, so I try to do what I can to preserve what’s left. This particular set of stories arose through a project that I was fortunate enough to receive funding for. You find out more all about it here.