AN audience of 61 gathered to hear Dr Janet Tall of the South West Heritage Trust give a presentation on the work being done by the Trust to save the Stanley Kenyon Photographic Archive.

Stanley Kenyon came to Wellington from Kent in the 1930s and lived here for the rest of his life – he died in the late 1970s. He gained international recognition within the photographic profession for the quality of his work. The archive of his life’s work is a collection of about 48,000 acetate negatives plus a smaller number of glass negatives.

The acetates have begun to seriously deteriorate due to a disease commonly called ‘vinegar syndrome’ but the Trust recognises that the subject matter of the archives – ranging from industrial scenes in India to Wellington wedding photographs, all from the mid-20th century, is well worth saving.

Unfortunately, finding funds to complete this task was not easy – many potential funders were put off by the need to destroy the infected negatives after preserving the images digitally.

Although the digitisation has been carried out by a specialist firm, much of the sorting, cataloguing and checking is being carried out by volunteers at the Heritage Centre in Taunton.

At the end of the formal presentation, members of the audience gave their personal reminiscences of Mr Kenyon. These ranged from his fondness for fast cars to his meticulous approach to recording his work – but with a workplace that was not the tidiest.

Dr Tall said the audience contributions were useful in providing background information and context to the archive. The archive is an important and extensive record of life in the mid-20th Century produced by one of Wellington’s illustrious inhabitants.

The talk was in aid of Wellington Local History & Museum Society.