The Journey of a Collection

By Ted Hughes

I am a master’s student at Durham University currently studying International Cultural Heritage Management and have been lucky enough to take part in volunteering at The Story. For a 6-week placement, I shadowed and assisted all the various teams and departments that come together to preserve and display the archives and collections to the public. The Story is such a significant institution for the public and for the history of the community. There is something for everyone, whether you’re interested in fashion from the 1960s, sport from the 1850s or your own family history.

Behind the scenes

Storage
Documents and objects are stored in temperature and humidity regulated strongrooms for the preservation of the collections. With huge amounts of paper in The Story’s archives the collection needs to be kept at these precise conditions in order to prevent pests forming and damaging the collection.

Conservation
In their new and far more advanced studio the conservation team at The Story have an incredible facility to help repair collections items of all sizes and materials. Recently they have been restoring the bindings of leather books and piecing together a humongous map of the Stockton-Darlington Railway signed by George Stephenson. They help keep the history alive as well as saving items that people would think are lost.

Archiving and Collections
Having to document and record 6 miles worth of archives requires a lot of hours and effort from members of the collections team. It is a constant and vital task in order to properly store and retrieve items for visitors to examine and research. With so many items needing to be recorded, enthusiastic volunteers, both in person and remotely, also help build towards the collections through documenting images and papers for the public.

Digitisation
Often a forgotten area of the archives that is so crucial to accessibility of collections, allowing people to explore the collections of The Story virtually. The newer and larger working area for digitisation means they can not only visually record documents (books, photographs, newspapers etc) but can also take extremely high-definition images of larger items such as the Stockton-Darlington Railway map currently being restored by the conservation team.

Front of house, Search and Discover and exhibition spaces
Regardless where visitors find themselves within The Story, they will be able to ask a member of staff for help to find more information about whatever query they may have. Finding and tracing their family tree or looking at images of maps and streets to see what their house looked like when they were growing up, the team at The Story are there to assist with whatever you may need.

Durham sport | Victorian cricket

Whilst perusing the exhibition spaces on the ground floor my eye was caught by a section discussing a local cricket team. As a keen cricket enthusiast, I wanted to discover more about the cricketing items that were available in the collection. In exploring the collections in Search & Discover I was attracted by a selection of cricket scorebooks of the 68th Light Infantry (later the 1^st Battalion, The Durham Light Infantry) from the 1850s and 1860s. Telling stories of hundreds of matches of cricket played across 1 and 2 innings in a period before football and rugby were mainstream for the masses.

Thanks to the digitisation of the objects, I was able to see what the scorebooks looked like in high definition and knew instantly these were the items that could help me discover more. By booking into the Collections Room and filling in the collection request slip the collections team were able to retrieve the items in a matter of moments thanks to the effective documentation of the archives. The items, for their age, are in great condition and have been well kept by its owners prior to it being stored with the Durham County Record Office and now at The Story. Because of the object being made predominantly of organic materials, paper and leather, the books need to be kept in the cool dry stores.

Durham Light Infantry cricket scorebooks

The beautiful leather-bound scorebooks recorded cricket matches played by the 68^th across the world from Rangoon (Modern Day Yangon, Myanmar), Calcutta (Modern Day Kolkata, India) Argostolion (Greece) and even here in the UK at Manchester and Portsmouth. A Corporal stands out as a fantastic player especially in terms of bowling often taking 5 wicket hauls. Sadly, from the handwriting it is difficult to deduce the true name of the corporal. Additionally, only the surname is put in the scorebook which creates added challenges towards discovering more about the man through the catalogues of ancestry data that The Story has available. What is visible about the man is that he was a private when they were playing in Malta in April 1853 and a year later, after some very impressive bowling figures, he was promoted to Corporal. Perhaps his cricketing performances played a part in his promotion.

Thanks to the team at The Story, I was able to not only learn more about the history of cricket in the area but also how The Story keeps the history alive for everyone to learn.