ABSTRACT
This chapter explores one application of hands on history: the Pebble Mill project, which employs a hands on approach to the creation and dissemination of multimedia artefacts, in the process producing what M. Dougherty and S. M. Schneider term an ‘idiosyncratic archive’. It focuses on the enrichment of histories through engagement with the online community, and the rewards and difficulties that result from facilitating them. The Pebble Mill project, an online community archive focused on the history of BBC Pebble Mill in Birmingham, is one possible answer. One of the challenges for hands on history is how to disseminate the experiential encounter with the historical materials to a broader audience, in a manner that does not revert to traditional written history. The Pebble Mill project consists of a website and a Facebook page with over 1600 members, many of whom are former BBC employees.
