Decades of work on Ely history archive could be lost

Beth Lane and John Clarke, who have been part of the Cambridgeshire Community Archive Network (CCAN) since its launch by Cambridgeshire County Council in 2006, have issued an urgent SOS for fresh volunteers to join them in Ely.

Retired Ely librarian Beth has been slowly archiving the history of her city for nearly two decades, uploading images to CCAN, where anyone who is interested can easily access them via the internet.

John has been doing the same work for his village of Little Downham and has also helped with Ely.

The pair explained that when they first started, there was a committee of around a dozen volunteers helping to log the area's history, but over the years, the numbers have sadly dwindled, leaving just Beth and John to carry on the work in Ely.

"History never ends, it just keeps on going," said John, "But sadly, we are not able to do that."

Beth added: "If something happens to us and no one takes over the work, or pays the annual £100 subscription to the archive, then that will be it, the website provider will close it down."

She continued: "When we first started, we had a team of people keen to help not only with the archiving, but also with fundraising.

John Clarke and Beth Lane work on uploading more information and images to Ely's archive on the Cambridgeshire Community Archive Network. (Image: Sarah Cliss)

"We held all sorts of events and even produced calendars for a couple of years to generate funds. Now I simply pay the subscription myself.

"I am happy to continue to do that while I can, but we really need some younger people to get involved and help maintain the archive."

John added: "The beauty of CCAN is that it was designed so anyone could use it. Anyone is welcome to upload images to it, and we would love more people to do that.

"There are always old pictures being posted to Facebook, but people just don't upload them to the archive. It may be they don't realise they can, and we hope to change that by letting people know they are welcome to upload any pictures they like.

John Clarke and Beth Lane work through items ready to upload them to the Ely archive. (Image: Sarah Cliss)

"They don't have to be old images, pictures of recent events are also welcome because, as I said, history never ends, and things that happened yesterday are already history.

"I'm more than happy to help train people to use the system, but all people need is a computer and a scanner."

Beth continued: "People can volunteer to do as much or as little as they like. The beauty of this is that they can do it in their homes to fit around their own schedule. I would be grateful for any help anyone can give."

At the moment, Beth is focusing on uploading old adverts for Ely businesses.

Items from the Ely archive are available for people to download and use, just like the Ely Standard did over Christmas with a special feature on businesses of the past. (Image: Sarah Cliss)

"They don't have to be old images, pictures of recent events are also welcome because, as I said, history never ends, and things that happened yesterday are already history.

"I'm more than happy to help train people to use the system, but all people need is a computer and a scanner."

Beth continued: "People can volunteer to do as much or as little as they like. The beauty of this is that they can do it in their homes to fit around their own schedule. I would be grateful for any help anyone can give."

At the moment, Beth is focusing on uploading old adverts for Ely businesses.

"I have found 140 businesses, but I'm sure there are more. There are a lot that are no longer there, but there are also businesses that are still going strong," she said.

"It is a real history of the town's businesses, and I think people would find it quite interesting; some of the adverts are fascinating to read."

The Cambridgeshire Community Archive Network currently consists of 32 groups, originally there were over 50, representing towns and villages from Abbotsley to Yaxley, and everywhere in between, including Coveney, Cottenham, Fordham, Haddenham & Aldreth, Wimblington, Mepal, and Outwell.

The network was launched in April 2006, and the groups began uploading photos and memories to an online website. It is hoped that Ely and Little Downham will continue to thrive if new people step up to help.  

Everyone is welcome to browse the archive, and it is available for free; simply type in CCAN into a web browser.

If you can help, then email: sarah.cliss@newsquest.co.uk and she will pass your details on to Beth and John.