Wow doesn’t time fly. There isn’t much to tell you all really. John Pope made another of his trips to Wiltshire and continued his quest in photographing new subjects for our galleries. He has also revisited a few places to try to get better images of already photographed items. He was based in Devizes this time and revisited some of the parishes surrounding the town. His efforts can be seen in the galleries and a new Devizes gallery featuring the inside of the historic Shambles building. John is a stalwart for the OPC project and we have much to thank him for
As for the website growth it is still an ongoing project and Ben Grist is constantly building on the skeleton of it. We as OPC’s and transcribers provide the items to be included on pages. I did a check and estimate I have enough material to upload and work on to keep me busy until at least February 2027. I really need to get someone to come and stay with me for a few weeks so I can show them how they could help with the process (anyone want a holiday in Scotland !!!!!!!!!!!!!). The alternative is to get a local volunteer in to help but I doubt I would get someone from Ayrshire interested in the history of Wiltshire.
On a personal level I am slowly working my way through the documents submitted for upload and for a little variety I am working on a few transcripts including the 1939 Register, School Admissions registers, Trade Directories and continuing with the Casualties of War and Conflict Calendar (along with Martin Barrett and John Pope who is contributing new entries from his war memorial photographs research). It is all time consuming but we are determined to take our time to ensure we provide as much information as we can for our website users to take advantage of.
Again I must thank our contributors for their patience whilst we prepare, check and upload anything submitted for parish pages. Once my cataract surgery is confirmed and completed I hope I will be able to work at twice the speed so fingers crossed.
As I often say if you are planning trips to the lovely county of Wiltshire, enjoy your trip, be careful and stay safe. We have a set of tips and essentials on the website to help you with things that you not have thought of. Of course if you wish to share photographs etc. then please let me know via the Contact Us option on the Home Page of the website.
Have a good late Spring and early Summer