Archive project will welcome MP

A Teesside MP will be finding out how an archive project is helping to preserve the history of the region’s iron and steel industries.

Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland MP Dr Ashok Kumar is due to visit the British Steel Archive Project, a partnership between the University and Teesside Archives, on Tuesday 7 April.

The project aims to preserve the British Steel Collection - an extensive collection of photographs, maps, ledgers, deeds and other documents. Dr Ashok Kumar will see the project in action when he visits its base at Teesside Archives, Exchange Square, Middlesbrough.

The British Steel Collection includes the original plans for the iconic Sydney Harbour Bridge, images showing the construction of the Forth Road Bridge in Scotland, the Auckland Harbour Bridge in New Zealand and the Bangkok Memorial Bridge in Thailand.

During his visit the MP will visit the conservation suite where work is carried out to repair fragile items, along with the digitisation suite where images from the British Steel Collection are digitised for use in the electronic catalogue and on the Internet.

He will also meet the archivist responsible for creating the catalogue - an item by item list of the contents of each shelf - which will be used by the public to search for items in the Collection. Dr Kumar will also meet volunteers who help the team with this important work.

The MP will learn more about the project’s community outreach work with schools, local groups and societies, as well as the volunteer programme.

Looking forward to MP's visit Dr Joan Heggie, Project Manager, British Steel Archive Project, said: 'It will be a pleasure to welcome Dr Kumar to Teesside Archives and show him the progress we've already made with the British Steel Collection and the important contribution the volunteers are making.

Dr Kumar is a staunch supporter of the British Steel Archive Project and an advocate for the preservation and celebration of this area's industrial heritage.'

Until the launch of the project in 2008, the material was virtually inaccessible to the public. The Collection contains in total over 600 feet of unsorted material drawn from over 40 iron and steel companies active in the Teesside area between the 1840s and the 1970s.

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