Report from the chair (Dec 2023)

It is a real pleasure sometimes when the unexpected happens. At the archive the other day a parcel arrived that was not anticipated and on opening it I found inside a pile of German beer mats and a Lufthansa flight magazine, together with an explanatory note from a friend of mine had had just been on holiday to Germany and thought of the archive while he was there. Thank you Mark for your lovely contribution to the collection at the archive.

On a similar theme our network into the inter-library system has turned up trumps again with us picking up a collection of “Gourmet” magazines (an American lifestyle magazine) from Oxford Brookes University. I was on familiar ground when I arrived to collect them as my daughter studied law there. Thank you to Annabel and the team for packing up the magazines and making access to the university seamless. Thank you too to the Stockport Heritage Library team for putting us in touch.

It is the time of year now where we have the log burner going in the reading room every day and what a pleasure it is to be here working with it on.

We are now getting ready for our December open evening where hopefully we will be putting on our special of mince pies and mulled wine alongside our normal coffee and cake. Do please make an effort to come along as it promises to be a bumper evening.

We have now passed the magic 150,000 catalogued items, a major milestone of achievement for all of us at the archive. Every item we add opens up a new door of opportunity to help a researcher in their quest for knowledge.

A friend of mine, Len Huff, is writing the history of E.D. Abbott the coachbuilders and he contacted me to ask if we had any items relating to the 1932 Motor Show, and if so could we see if there was anything relating to an Abbott-bodied car made by Triumph and displayed at their stand at the show. After a short trawl through the archive I was able to provide Len with details of the cars on display by Triumph (from the 1932 Motor Show catalogue) plus reviews of the stand published in Autocar and Motor magazines. The icing on the cake was that Autocar also showed two photographs of the Triumph Southern Cross car.

A few weeks ago we were visited at the archive by Tony Thorpe who runs the excellent website www.britainbycar.co.uk/. Tony’s website explores motoring history from the unique perspective of “place” and as such he wanted to feature our archive because of its large automotive content. I spent a lovely day with Tony and the result of his interview with me is now recorded in the archive’s entry on his website. Do check it out and explore our country’s unique motoring heritage.

I am writing this having just returned from a lovely local walk in the Strines/Mellor area not far from here. Aside from the fabulous views to be seen on the walk one of the highlights was lunch at the Fox Inn at Brookbottom. This quintessentially English pub with log fire and warm welcome by the landlady is a great place to have lunch either on a cold and frosty winter’s day like today or on a lovely summer’s day where there is plenty of room to eat and drink outside. My lunch was made even better by the selection of beer mats given to me when I enquired at the bar “is there any chance you could spare some for our archive”. If you are in the area do pop in and have a drink and meal as you will be made more than welcome and the pub is both dog and walker friendly. Check them out at www.robinsonsbrewery.com/pubs/fox-inn-new-mills/

On a final note I would like to wish all of our trustees, volunteers and supporters a wonderful Christmas and a lovely New Year.

Until next year, take care.

Richard Roberts

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Collection Statistics

The Richard Roberts Archive collection statistics
Tuesday 21st November 2023

Collection database                          

TOTAL items                                           152,157
Of which Magazines                           128,654
Product file database
TOTAL items (scanned and DB)     15,092
Of which physical copies                    8,444  

Product folders

Companies, people and authors A4   132
- circa number of adverts                        17,151
Companies, people and authors A3   1                                 
Companies, people and authors A2+ 0                                 
Artists and engravers                           5                                 

Drinking glasses                                              1                                 

Breweriana   folders                         223     
- Beermats                                                   11,939

Transport photograph database

TOTAL items                                                    883     

Volunteer hours

TOTAL                                                  68,684