'Extensive record' of Corby life to be digitised

Archive images collected of a Northamptonshire town for almost 45 years are to be digitised and made available online.

Corby Community Arts has created and accumulated an "extensive record of Corby's social and cultural life, as well as the many changes to the physical environment" since it was designated a New Town in 1950.

A special archive exhibition will take place on Saturday and Sunday that will include larger scale versions of some images on the site and others that have yet to be digitised.

Director Kate Dyer said: "I have worked at Corby Community Arts since 1983, even though I only meant to stay 12 months."

She added: "Corby has a way of drawing you in and 43 years later, thanks to some good fortune from the Ernest Hecht Charitable Foundation, we have had the resources to spend some time and money to create a new website that we are delighted to be launching this weekend."

Posters, flyers, booklets and photographic prints will also be on show and visitors will be able to browse the website during its development.

How Corby was reborn as a new town 75 years ago

A group of young people pictured outside Connaughty Centre [Kate Dyer/Corby Community Arts]

Dyer said: "The website will not be complete when it launches, as the process of digitising all of our archive is going to be a very long, laborious process, involving our archive volunteers, as well as people from the community helping us with what they remember about the images we present."

She said she hoped anyone who came to the exhibition would "maybe recognise some people, places or projects on display that they can tell us more about".

Corby Civic Centre at Christmas - which was replaced by the Cube [Kate Dyer/Corby Community Arts]

The demolition of Lincoln Way [Kate Dyer/Corby Community Arts]

Marian Anderson, archive project manager, said it had been "brought to this stage thanks to a dedicated group of volunteers, who continue to put so much hard work into preserving this precious local heritage for future generations".

"We have all been on a learning journey to acquire archiving skills and every person has also brought their own expertise to the project, whether that is local knowledge, technical skills, or brilliant detective work to help identify people, places and dates," she added.

The exhibition runs from 10:00-15:00 BST on Saturday and Sunday at Unit 7, Willow Place, Corby.

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