Social History / archive
Clifton Suspension Bridge Trust launches new website of collected love stories
Launching on Valentine’s Day, Clifton Suspension Bridge Trust is celebrating stories of love and romance with a connection to the world-famous landmark.
Called The Union, the site aims to become an online archive, charting the seminal moments in the relationships of people who may have chosen the bridge as the backdrop for their first dates, declarations of love or proposals of marriage.
People will be invited to submit their own histories of love in all its forms, connected to the bridge, indicating the year (if known), the circumstances, and as much of the detail as they can recall.
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Creative strategist and designer Emily Sorrell has been a collaborator on the project, which has received support from Art Fund’s Reimagine grant, devoted to reconnecting cultural organisations with their communities following the lockdowns of 2020 and 2021.
She calls it an “overwhelmingly happy post-pandemic project for 2022/23”, in which she was keen to emphasise “connection, complexity, resilience and romance”.
From The Union project – photo: courtesy of Clifton Suspension Bridge Trust
“We wanted to work harder to amplify the voices of people who have connected, used and enjoyed the bridge, and who have their own stories to tell about it,” says Laura Hilton, visitor experience manager for the Trust.
“The artistic collaboration is our first opportunity to consciously collect, share and preserve these stories.”
Chair of the Trust, Chris Booy, is similarly upbeat about the part the project can play in preserving the history of the bridge for future generations: “As custodians of the bridge we are committed to not only preserving its structure but also its legacy”.
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The Union website will be launched on February 14. People are invited to submit their own histories here.
Main image: Clifton Suspension Bridge Trust
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