DO you remember the 1976 drought — I am a geographer at the University of Exeter and I am researching people's experiences of severe droughts and water shortages, for the National Historic Drought Project, for which I am re-constructing the social record, from archive materials such as newspaper articles, photographs, reports, and personal diaries. I am also recording people's memories of past droughts to contribute to a national collection of oral histories. In 1976, Tavistock faced severe water rationing and many households were sent to standpipes in the streets for water. I would be delighted to hear from anyone in Tavistock or the surrounding areas who remembers this or any other drought or water shortage, in any part of the UK, if they have materials that I can copy for the archive, or if they would like me to record their memories for the oral history collection. If I am able to create a substantial Tavistock collection I would be very happy to present the results to local community groups if they are interested.

Dr Rebecca Pearce University of Exeter