For The Record

An ex St Helens corporation bus will return to the streets of the borough on Saturday 12 September for special audio tours.

St Helens 54 – a 1967 Leyland PD2A/27 will set off from The Old Beecham’s Building for two trips around the town as Heart of Glass celebrate Heritage Open Day.

Artist Lowri Evans has devised For The Record and is meeting and recording people around the town and creating the bus tours as part of the national Open Day.

Personal and historical facts will be retold to passenger as a vintage bus stops off at local landmarks throughout the town. Lowri will lead an orchestra of local voices and stories to make a bus tour with a difference.

A recording of voices and music collected during Lowri’s walks during 7 – 12 September will also be pressed into a limited edition vinyl.

Lowri said: “I have been really inspired by the heritage of St Helens and understanding that through chance encounters or guided walks with people who live there. I have been particularly inspired by the conductor Thomas Beecham, who was born in St Helens and is the grandson of Thomas Beecham who owned the Beechams Factory.

“He first conducted in public in St Helens in October 1899, with an “ad hoc ensemble comprising local musicians”. I like to think that my approach will be a bit ramshackle – just a week to pull together stories, a concert, a bus tour and a 7″ record- with determination and community spirit to make it happen!

“He was an early pioneer of recording classical music, so I hope to capture my week in St Helens with the same dedication to a recorded sound. I hope to collect, compose and conduct a collective story of a place, I am interested in how people tell stories about a shared place and their personal lives. Seeing St Helens as an orchestra, and what that might sound like.”

The project was been bought together by Heart of Glass with the support of Northwest Museum of Road Transport at the Old Bus Depot on Hall Street, St Helens.

Local people can sign up online to free ride tickets.