Identity area
Reference code
Title
Date(s)
- Digital copies, 2016 (Creation)
- Original recordings, 2005 (Creation)
Level of description
Extent and medium
2 compact cassettes, 3 digital audio files, 2 digital transcripts, 2 folders
Context area
Name of creator
Administrative history
The Scottish Oral History Centre (SOHC) was set up within the Department of History at the University of Strathclyde in 1995. Since its foundation the SOHC has been involved in a wide range of teaching, research and outreach activities designed primarily to encourage the use of ‘best practice’ oral history methodology in Scotland. Until 2005, the SOHC was directed by Professor Callum Brown, since then by Professor Arthur McIvor.
Name of creator
Biographical history
Neil Rafeek was born in London, the middle of three brothers. His father Taureq Rafeek was a town planner and the family regularly moved with his work. From London they moved to Bristol, then Edinburgh (where Neil attended primary school), then Sunderland. Neil Rafeek's experience at secondary school there prevented him from successfully completing his early education. Leaving with just one O-level, he entered the building trade to train as a bricklayer. Subsequently he enrolled at the University of Strathclyde as a mature student and went on to do a PhD on women in the Communist party in Scotland 1920-1991 (1998). It was the first oral history based PhD awarded in the Department of History. Rafeek actively helped to build, manage and run the Scottish Oral History Centre (SOHC) at the University of Strathclyde.
Archival history
Transferred in 2015 and 2016 from the Scottish Oral History Centre (SOHC). The project's original SOHC ID was SOHCA/028. The project appears to have been referred to also by the title "Clydeside heavy industries oral history project". The original recordings were made in 2005 using a cassette recorder. In 2016, they were digitised to uncompressed, unaltered 24 bit/96kHz BWF format (for preservation) with 16bit/48kHz MP3 surrogates (for access).
Immediate source of acquisition or transfer
Content and structure area
Scope and content
Conversations between Neil Rafeek and two men who spent their working lives as laggers in the Clydeside heavy industries. Topics covered include childhood and growing up in Glasgow, the Clydebank blitz, housing, domestic life, social life, football, sectarianism, gang culture, National Service, working conditions, trade unions, health and safety, asbestos.
Includes notes and draft publications relating to a project about the working culture and notions of masculinity in Clydeside heavy industries.
Appraisal, destruction and scheduling
Accruals
System of arrangement
Conditions of access and use area
Conditions governing access
No access restrictions.
Conditions governing reproduction
Language of material
- English
Script of material
Language and script notes
Physical characteristics and technical requirements
Finding aids
Allied materials area
Existence and location of originals
Existence and location of copies
Related units of description
This collection is part of the Scottish Oral History Centre Archive.