Welcome to the Charles Parker Archive Trust

The Charles Parker Archive is housed at Birmingham Archives and Heritage, but the online catalogue Access to Archives (A2A) means that a list of its digitised sound recordings can be browsed from any computer.

You can also visit the pages of the Charles Parker Archive at Birmingham City Council and the Connecting Histories collection

One of Charles Parker's most significant contributions was to recognise the enormous value of the kind of language that we ordinary folk take for granted in our everyday conversations.
Click to hear the two minute version of a 1962 lecture in which he spoke about the style and the origins of the Radio Ballads.

Other ways you can get involved:

- follow us on Twitter

- have a look at the Trust's last Annual Report

- come along to the Charles Parker Day on 30 March at the University of Westminster

- if you're a radio student, consider entering for the Charles Parker Prize for Student Radio Features

- join the Friends of the Charles Parker Archive
- background
- membership subscription form

- read an article on the "Birmingham Ballads"
Part 1 - Brian Vaughton, writer and compiler

Links to related websites

Contact Us

The CPA Trust