Views from Convalescent Hill

Views from Convalescent Hill is a community-led research and creative project exploring the heritage of wellbeing, rest and care in Felixstowe.

Through oral histories and research drawn from archives, objects and residents, Views from Convalescent Hill aims to uncover and share personal stories and memories of Felixstowe as a spa town and place for convalescence, whilst considering what ‘health’ means to people today.

Starting points for this research that inspired this project include:

The history of Felixstowe as a renowned Victorian Spa Town
The existence of convalescent homes such as the Bartlet and Herman De Stern
The experiences of Felixstowe residents who worked at or were patients at St Audry’s hospital, in nearby Melton.

Grounded in local knowledge, shaped by residents’ voices and co-created with local organisations and initiatives, Views from Convalescent Hill draws upon important pieces of the town’s social and cultural history, to explore and celebrate how the town has long fostered mental and physical wellbeing and been a place of rest, recovery and self-care.

A team of local experts have been assembled to share their thoughts, experiences and skills, to guide the final public outcomes. Together, a group of Creative Collaborators and Oral History Volunteers are steering the direction this project takes; preserving testimonies past and present, helping to plan events and activities and informing contemporary artist Dana Olărescu’s commission ‘All Ears: A Community Listening Station’.

Get Involved: If you have memories you would like to share or to get involved, please contact us: natalie@pierprojects.org. or head over the project’s digital archive launching soon: https://www.vfch-archive.co.uk/

Launch Weekend: Thursday 4 - Sunday 7 July

Exhibition launch

Thursday 4 July, 6 - 7.30pm, Felixstowe Museum, IP11 3TW

All welcome, book a free ticket by here

This temporary display will share the methods and local knowledge that have shaped this collaborative project. Co-curated by Felixstowe residents, new research and previously unseen objects from the museum’s collection will sit alongside contemporary artworks and responses by residents who have worked alongside project artist Dana Olărescu. There will also be the opportunity to listen to local memories and stories captured by oral history volunteers that personalise this history and bring it to life. An onsite bar will be available.

Come along and celebrate this unique part of Felixstowe history and find out more about the upcoming events programme.

The exhibition runs from 4 July - 3 November, Thursday to Sunday, 11am to 5pm, including Bank Holidays. Free onsite parking at the Museum or in the main Landguard car park from 6pm.

Dana Olărescu, All Ears: A Community Listening Station

Saturday 6 July, 10am - 3pm, Felixstowe Library
Free, Drop-in, All welcome

A performative installation that explores the act of listening as a form of care.

In Spring of this year, artist Dana Olărescu explored the project's themes alongside eight creative collaborators. The need for ways to offer mutual support and offer safe spaces to one another emerged as a collective priority, with the group identifying the former Community Listening Service, previously hosted at Felixstowe Library, as a much-missed form of community connection.

‘All Ears: A Community Listening Station’, takes these ideas and presents them through a performative installation. Playful and whimsical, ‘All Ears’ will function as a tranquil haven for individuals seeking an open and non-judgmental space to express themselves. Dana will offer listening sessions on designated days across Felixstowe, warmly welcoming visitors through a creative rather than clinical approach.

Elaine Aston, Rest Easy

Sunday 7 July, 11am - 3pm, Felixstowe Library
Free, Drop-In, All Welcome

A temporary installation considering the impact of the sea on our ability to rest.

Artist and creative collaborator Elaine Aston invites you to come and experience Rest Easy; a new artwork that offers audiences the opportunity to pause and become immersed in a seascape captured in Felixstowe. In addition to found sound, the installation features a newly created deckchair with cyanotype printed fabric created by the artist, that builds upon her established textile-based practice.

Come along, take a moment of rest and meet the artist.

Further details of additional public events will be shared on the digital archive.

Views from Convalescent Hill is made possible with The National Lottery Heritage Fund. Thanks to National Lottery players, we have been able to support this project. We are also grateful for the support of East Suffolk District Council’s Enabling Communities Fund and to our partners; Felixstowe Museum, Suffolk Archives and FOPWA, without whom this project would not be possible.

Welcome to our Artist-in-Residence!

We are delighted to introduce our new artist-in-residence for 2023-24 is Dana Olărescu.

After an open call for applications, Dana has been selected to work alongside Felixstowe Museum, The Hold, Pier Projects - and hopefully, you - as part of ‘Views from Convalescent Hill’.

Dana will share her deep interest in community health, experience of working collaboratively with local groups, and personal experience of health-based therapies having grown up by the sea in Romania.

“I am thrilled to have the opportunity to work on this incredible project which will allow me to research Felixstowe’s health-based heritage individually and learn about alternative histories from community members. It will be a privilege to inquire whether heritage can help us re-imagine approaches to contemporary health care.”

Dana is a socially-engaged artist working across performance, installation and social design. Find our more about her work here.

Welcome to our Oral History Volunteers

On the 3rd November we hosted an oral history training day at Felixstowe Museum led by Suffolk Archives where six local residents learned more about methodologies and techniques in conducting oral history interviews. We are excited by the prospect of capturing the incredible knowledge that exists in Felixstowe and look forward to listening to future stories which will be deposited at Suffolk Archives in Ipswich. Thank you to all involved.