Next slide please for Cheshire Archives

Staff at Cheshire Archives have been busy cataloguing a massive collection of over 40,000 glass and 35mm slides as part of their mission to collect, care for and share the histories of Cheshire.

This is ahead of their move to two new purpose-built Archives Centres in Chester and Crewe next autumn.

Covering a huge range of subjects, the images reveal all aspects of life in Cheshire over the past 100 years. 

Glass negatives and slides are an early form of photography, using glass plates with emulsion to create images, dating from around the 1850s. Lantern slides were viewed on a projector, also known as a magic lantern or lanterna magica, and used for entertainment and educational purposes. An early form of a slide projector, it was most popular in the late 18th to early 20th centuries.

A more familiar form of photography is the 35mm slide, first invented in 1935, these contain individual photographic film images mounted in a small square frame of cardboard or plastic. They can be magnified up to 100 times and still maintain a crisp and detailed projected image, either in black and white or colour. 

Being cheaper and more portable than their glass predecessors and with home projectors becoming more affordable, they became the most popular photography viewing format in the twentieth century until the advent of digital photography in the 1990s.

It is perhaps not surprising then that the Archives hold a large collection of 35mm slides relating to people and places in Cheshire - an estimated 39,000 in total.

Cataloguing the slides is a huge organisational challenge!  

Once they have been checked against the online catalogue, each one is given a unique reference number along with information including dates, location and subject matter, ready to be put onto the catalogue.

Due to the age and fragility of glass slides, staff take great care in handling them before they are catalogued and stored upright in archive boxes which reduces the pressure on the glass. They are arranged in the boxes by area or subject based on information supplied when they were first deposited. 

New specialist racking is being installed to safely store the boxed slides and they will be available to view from next year in the new centres. 

Councillor Jill Rhodes, chair of Cheshire East’s Adults and Health Committee, said:

“It’s fascinating that some of our heritage and historical imagery is continually being unearthed by our archives service – with everything from transport, buildings and family history being brought back to life.

“We can’t wait to share the full breadth of what the new Crewe centre will offer residents when it opens next year – with everything from exhibitions, events and family history talks – this centre looks set to bring a real buzz about the town and we’re excited to bring something different to the area.”

Construction of the two new Archive Centres has been made possible thanks to National Lottery players through The National Lottery Heritage Fund and the Wolfson Foundation - an independent charity with a focus on research and education.

This is alongside the government’s Towns Fund, which funds projects focused on community spaces and connected places, town centre regeneration, and culture and heritage.