Historical facts and figures give us information, but when ordinary people tell us their memories of everyday life and experience of days gone by, the past really comes to life. This collection of reminiscences of Nottinghamshire people was compiled by Julie McGuinness from the many interviews conducted by producer Jeremy Evans and his team for a series of local radio programmes to mark the Millennium, called The Century Speaks. These programmes, broadcasted weekly from September 1999 through to the end of the century, form part of the BBC’s Millennium Oral History Project, a nationwide project to record memories of people of all ages and social backgrounds. Forty BBC local and regional stations have taken part to produce the largest oral history project in the history of radio. Every interview is stored in the National Sound Archive in the British Library, to form a Millennium Memory Bank. The memories selected for this book are illustrated with contemporary photographs, many borrowed from the interviewees, presenting a colourful portrait of life in this county of contrasts, through the eyes of people from all walks of life. In their own words they share memories of growing up; their homes, families and communities; work and leisure; good times and bad. They are a fitting reminder of how we lived in the twentieth century.