Unlocking History was first dreamt up in December 2021. Founder, Andrew Ledger, struck upon the idea after trying to think of a way to help promote the high street in his home town of Fordingbridge, Hampshire on the edge of the New Forest. Always keen on history and the stories the past can tell us, it wasn’t long before he had the idea to try and find a way to combine the two elements into one project. Having decided this it was the introduction of the QR code element that finally pulled everything together into a workable solution.
Using his spare time to talk with local business owners about whether they would be interested, checking the technology worked as expected and, of course, digging into the history of Fordingbridge, Unlocking History was eventually ready to launch in the Summer of 2023.
Explore, Entertain and Educate. These three words are at the heart of Unlocking History.
Motivated by a desire to champion Fordingbridge’s diverse selection of independent shops and businesses as well as celebrating its rich history the idea of “exploration” was paramount.
In order to engage with visitiors to the town, whether they are from near or far, the idea had to include a level of entertainment. The “treasure hunt” principle of seeking out the codes felt like a good starting point but there are additional elements that are being developed for the future.
In a world so full of information, accessible at the touch of a screen or a click of a mouse, being able to discover the journey of the town you live in or your current holiday destination offers an extra dimension to the time you spend there. Even between the time the idea for Unlocking History was hatched and the day it launched the centre of Fordingbridge has seen many changes. If you were to stop and then think about the changes over ten years, fifty years, one hundred years and beyond you can imagine the number of stories that could be told – and stories are important.
There were a few other elements that were important too. Firstly the idea that there would be no need for any specialist app or software, no need to register to view or capture ANY personal details about the visitors to the pages. Accessibility is crucial too so wherever a code is displayed it has to be in a spot that can be reached by anyone.
Finally, Unlocking History is about adding to the mix, offering a different way to access history and explore the community. Fordingbridge has a superb museum (which is advertised at the foot of every page) which should be visited by everyone! Unlocking History is not about telling the whole story, there’s too much of a story to tell but it is about exploration, entertainment, a little bit and most of all, certainly for the moment, it’s about Fordingbridge.
A project like this is more than the product of one person. Fordingbridge has been privileged to have a number of books published about the town and by the same token, it’s history. Without the incredible and far reaching work of authors including Anthony Light, Gerald Ponting and the incomprable A. T. Morley Hewitt Unlocking History would still be squarely in the “research phase”.
Thanks too must also go to the inhabitants of Fordingbridge today who have provided their time and memories to add to my almost fifty years – still got a few to go before I’ll be considered a local of course! These include the fabulous members of the Facebook group Fordingbridge History in Photographs – please go find them and take a look.