Hello, Stevie here. This year has been strange and the company has needed to be quiet for a bit.

Whilst schools and theatres are closed and spending so much time at home, I have been thinking about other creative ways to connect to others. Since lockdown, our street has come together in wonderful ways, events, rainbow trails, Easter Egg hunts, collecting shopping for others and a very active WhatsApp group!

People are at the heart of stories of any community. So I created the Windows Through History project, a chance for us to explore the past, as well as connect with  and celebrate those people who make up our community today.

Inspired by BBC’s A House Through Time, everyone in the street was invited to research their properties and find the stories of previous residents. I am lucky to live in Montpelier, a vibrant area close to the centre of Bristol, with an eclectic mix of houses of various ages.

Sarah Taylor (1908?) and me and my son (2020)

On our street, we have discovered the old sweet shop, a lost mural, wells and hair under the floorboards of an old hairdressers!

Our windows have become a way of communicating when we could no longer meet face to face. Everyone was invited to share their findings and something about themselves through creative window displays. A socially distanced walk down the street allowed us to put faces to displays, to meet and share our discoveries.

Our little project gained momentum, with visitors from other streets, an interview on Radio Bristol and creation of a Facebook page -https://www.facebook.com/windowsthroughhistory, with images of the displays and creative inspiration from another wonderful Bristol based community project: www.windowwanderland.com, as well as hints on   how to research the history of your own area.

It has been a lovely way to explore storytelling and I am so grateful to all our neighbours who embraced the idea so enthusiastically.