D6

Capturing the Past

Many local groups and individuals in the Ingleborough area have archive material relating to the history of local communities and their use and management of the landscape. Unfortunately the range and content of this archival heritage is only partly understood and it remains an under-used resource - unseen, inaccessible or at risk of deterioration or loss.

The project will equip volunteers with the skills needed to assess and interpret these archives and to make them available online. Working closely with the owners of archives, volunteers will prepare metadata (by listing and cataloguing collections) and then create materials for uploading, which may include digital images, transcripts or calendars of original documents. Friends of the Dales is leading on this project, with the support of staff from the North Yorkshire County Records Office. The project is being part-funded by The Mercers' Company. Quarry Arts are also collecting stories from local quarry workers, old and young. Quarry Tales is an audio story project which complements the work of Capturing the Past.

Why make the collections accessible?

Making the archival heritage available online will benefit all with an interest in the history of the project area, transforming intellectual access to the area’s history. Beneficiaries will include professionals involved in landscape interpretation, school teachers developing local history projects, members of local heritage bodies, visitors to the Yorkshire Dales, and a wide public, including those with an interest in local and family history of the project area. 

How are the collections made accessible?

Volunteers have been trained to use the specialist digitising equipment. This equipment will be available for use during the Capturing the Past project and after it finishes. Digitised material is then uploaded and can be viewed on the Dales Community Archive website.

Dales Community Archives

Get in touch

To find out more or to get involved in the project please email dalescommunityarchives@gmail.com.