Key themes in the development of adult and community learning over the past 10 years have included widening participation, inclusive learning and partnership working. In her 2007 book, "Reminiscence and Lifelong Learning," the author used the example of reminiscence work to illustrate how drawing on learners' memories of past experiences can contribute to the development of service provision in each of these areas. This article illustrates how the ARCH (Archiving Rural Community History) project, run by Norfolk Adult Education in partnership with the Library Service and The Bridewell museum in Norwich, is using reminiscence, oral history and archiving based activities to widen participation in learning throughout Norfolk. The ARCH project epitomizes how innovative thinking by adult education providers can lead to a new understanding of the learning process on the part of service managers, tutors and the public, and thus contribute to raising the profile of adult and community learning both locally and nationally.