In Autumn 2020, Historic England commissioned New Writing North to lead a national creative partnership, working with regional writing agencies, local writers and local communities to produce a set of contemporary high street tales.
Eight writers on seven high streets across England began work on High Street Tales: a new storytelling initiative to uncover the hidden histories and celebrate the everyday magic of the high street.
The writers collected reflections, memories and stories from local people about their high street and what it means to them. Inspired by what they found, they led online story writing workshops with community groups to build the final tales – keeping local people at the centre of the authoring process.