We have to put up with a stuffy and lacklustre museum in Newbury which has probably got loads of local historical data filed away but is not accesible to the local towns people without considerable effort and if you want a copy, a fairly heavy cost.

Take a look at what Hungerford have done to preserve and publish for everybody to see with their Virtual Museum.

http://www.hungerfordvirtualmuseum.co.uk/index.html

It just makes Newbury a bit of a joke as the only pictorial history is more or less what is posted on this site.

That's a great idea!  Indeed one which would doubtless enthuse volunteers; particularly the 'silver surfer' retiree types who are likely to have a bit of time free. A pretty positive use of the web by our neighbours down the road.  

I would love to provide something like this for Newbury. On the Hungerford site, you are looking at 11 years of work to achieve what is on the site today.

You would need a dedicated team to compile all of the information and present it in a similar format. I know from being involved with newbury.net, that we have visitors from all over the world who love to look at the old photographs.

I am happy to provide server space and expertise, but don't have the time for the compilation of the information.

What about the rest of you?

I think that we would be stumped by the first ball, or we might fall at the first hurdle, unless the museum changes it's attitude to providing things from the archives. What they charge for scans is unbelievable and there is an annual charge if used on the net.

Digital scan to CD      £15.00 for first scan
          £5.00 each for subsequent images.

Use on a website      £50.00 for one image
          £25.00 each subsequent image
               Licence is for one year.          

Probably why this website cost such a vast sum to create.

http://www.sopse.org.uk/ixbin/hixclient.exe?a=file&p=greenham&f=greenham%2ehtm

Shame that not a lot of local people know of its existence.

Quoted from Old Goat

That's a great idea!  Indeed one which would doubtless enthuse volunteers; particularly the 'silver surfer' retiree types who are likely to have a bit of time free. A pretty positive use of the web by our neighbours down the road.  

The Hungerford virtual museum has been put together and is maintained by Hungerford Historical Society - an entirely volunteer run concern. Their lecture meetings get up to 100 attendees.

Their counterpart in Newbury, the Newbury District Field Club has recently (last Sept) started a series of local history based lectures that get attendances of about 20-30.  Perhaps people in Newbury just aren't that interested in local history?

Quoted from blackdog

The Hungerford virtual museum has been put together and is maintained by Hungerford Historical Society - an entirely volunteer run concern. Their lecture meetings get up to 100 attendees.

Their counterpart in Newbury, the Newbury District Field Club has recently (last Sept) started a series of local history based lectures that get attendances of about 20-30.  Perhaps people in Newbury just aren't that interested in local history?

Obviously not, or they would have done something about the covering up of the Kennet Centre murals by the Vue adverts.

Quoted from blackdog

The Hungerford virtual museum has been put together and is maintained by Hungerford Historical Society - an entirely volunteer run concern. Their lecture meetings get up to 100 attendees.

Their counterpart in Newbury, the Newbury District Field Club has recently (last Sept) started a series of local history based lectures that get attendances of about 20-30.  Perhaps people in Newbury just aren't that interested in local history?

Perhaps the name is a factor.  "Hungerford Historical Society" is self-explanatory.  But "Newbury District Field Club"   
I would never guess it was a local history society, it sounds more like a sporting organisation or something to do with farmers.

Quoted from Downlander

Perhaps the name is a factor.  "Hungerford Historical Society" is self-explanatory.  But "Newbury District Field Club"   
I would never guess it was a local history society, it sounds more like a sporting organisation or something to do with farmers.

"Founded in 1870 the Field Club is Newbury's local history society with additional interests in all aspects of the Newbury district's natural history, geology etc."

http://www.ndfc.org.uk/

Quoted from blackdog

The Hungerford virtual museum has been put together and is maintained by Hungerford Historical Society - an entirely volunteer run concern. Their lecture meetings get up to 100 attendees.

Their counterpart in Newbury, the Newbury District Field Club has recently (last Sept) started a series of local history based lectures that get attendances of about 20-30.  Perhaps people in Newbury just aren't that interested in local history?

Quoted from Brewmaster

Obviously not, or they would have done something about the covering up of the Kennet Centre murals by the Vue adverts.

Quoted from 133

The Vue boards you see are part of the cinema awareness campaign. They are placed in front of the murals, which remain intact and undamaged, and will be removed in the New Year.

Quoted from Downlander

Perhaps the name is a factor.  "Hungerford Historical Society" is self-explanatory.  But "Newbury District Field Club"   
I would never guess it was a local history society, it sounds more like a sporting organisation or something to do with farmers.

It's a bit of a dilemma for the Field Club - but it is not exclusively a local history society (for instance, until a couple of year ago it had an active botanical group). Even members who are primarily interested in local history would not want the name to change because it is a bit of history in itself.

According to the first volume of their publications (the Transactions of the NDFC) published in 1871 the club was 'designed to promote the knowledge of the natural history and antiquities of the neighbourhood'.

The term 'field club' was commonplace in the C19th but is confusing today, perhaps you need to be a local historian to understand the name? That said there are plenty of similar field clubs scattered around the country, most founded around the same time.

Could they be encouraged to become an e.field club?

Quoted from Old Goat

Could they be encouraged to become an e.field club?

e.field? Surely they should go for iField Club.

It seems that the museum might be a little more flexible than I thought. I got this reply to an email to Mr Steph Gillett which sort of gives the green light to using material in the files.

I can advise you that we are currently in discussion with a website provider to make arrangements for all of the Museum's images to go on-line (over time), which would of course include this material.

Should you wish to consider undertaking your project in partnership with the Museum (with suitable acknowledgements for both parties) please let me know. We do not make a charge for the use of images (assuming we hold copyright) for joint projects, nor of course would we if you produced something on behalf of the Museum as a volunteer.

I agree with you entirely that the industrial heritage of West Berkshire should indeed be celebrated and interpreted

Doesn't look the best and the search is awful (why didn't they use Google?) but on the whole it seems like a good idea.

Why not kick a Newbury one off by using all the photos that have been posted on here over time? It's the best thing about this site.