My father, Derek Philpott, who has died aged 89, had a long career in electronic engineering and a later passion for community history, leading him to create the website Openshaw Memories and publish a photo-book, Memories of an Openshaw Childhood in the 1940s and 50s (2023).
After studying for a BA in history at the Open University (2002), Derek was determined to record the everyday history of industrial Manchester and preserve the connections that led back to his boyhood. The website, which he set up in 2015, enabled former residents to share recollections, photographs and personal histories, and to reconnect with people they had known at school or in childhood. It also reflected his belief in the historical importance of “ordinary” lives and collective memory.
