Stories behind the shopfronts: Celebrating high street culture with Historic England

After a slightly longer break than planned - we are BACK! And what a series opener we have for you...

If you've ever reminisced about teenage days spent lolling around your town centre and the role your high street played in growing up, or spotted a ghost sign on the side of a building and pondered "what's that?" - then you're going to love this episode. But that's not to say this episode is all about looking back, as our chat with Ellen, Head of Creative Programmes and Campaigns for Historic England, proves. 

Far from it. 

Because whilst it's important to preserve and honour the past, we also need to consider how we learn from it, and how it can inform our future. Historic England are doing just that as part of their High Street Cultural Programme - which celebrates the wealth of stories and tales that our are embedded in our high streets. Ellen talks about how they’re working closely with communities, artists, photographers, poets, musicians, writers and others to take a snapshot of high streets now, celebrate and uncover stories of the past, and help us reimagine where we could be going next. 

Find out more about the programme here:  https://historicengland.org.uk/get-involved/high-street-culture/

And check out some incredible photographs from '100 years of high street shopping' here: https://historicengland.org.uk/#gallery-0-2