TownsWeb Archiving

21/09/2026

Some archival objects tell a story just through wear!

Get a closer look at two fascinating objects from the J.A. Baker archive: his field binoculars and his own 1940s map of Chelmsford and the surrounding area.

Worn edges on the binoculars from years of handling, and weathered panels and softened seams on the map from being folded and unfolded time and again in the field - both objects carry the physical trace of the years Baker spent watching, long before a single word of The Peregrine was written.

Find out more in the full video: https://hubs.li/Q04w559W0

17/09/2026

Reminder: our 2026 Match Funding Pot closes tomorrow!

Eligible applicants can access up to £1,000 in matched funding to help bring digitisation plans to life, with funds awarded on a first-come, first-served basis until the pot closes on 18th September 2026.

Quick recap on how it works:
For every eligible application received, £500 has been added to the pot. Contribute yourself, and we'll match it - pound for pound, up to £1,000 (e.g. contribute £1,000, receive £1,000 from us).

If you haven't arranged a meeting with us yet to request matched funding, now's the time: https://hubs.li/Q04w548h0

Once the pot's empty, that's it for 2026.

15/09/2026

The TownsWeb team will be attending ICA-SBA 2026 - Brussels, 21–22 September!

The International Council on Archives' Section on Business Archives conference, "The Company We Keep: Navigating Brands, Borders and Boundaries," takes place at the Royal Library of Belgium. We hope to see you there.

11/09/2026

Meet the Vanguard scanner 📸

We run six of these at TownsWeb, and every single one is set up differently depending on what's underneath it. Books sit in a cradle that adjusts to their weight, keeping pages flat and edges straight. Loose, folded, or damaged material - like old newspaper cuttings - gets a board underneath the glass instead. Flat material doesn't need the glass at all.

Even the resolution changes project to project. Written documents are usually scanned at 300 DPI, detailed photo prints and negatives get bumped up to 600 DPI, capturing textures and details that would otherwise be lost.

Read more on Millie's blog:

TownsWeb Digitisation Technician Millie Coleman showcases our Vanguard Scanners and how we use them.

10/09/2026

This wonderful little WWII-era photo book from the Museum of Scottish Railways takes the cake for our favourite item digitised last month!🚂

It's covered in a felt-type material with an imprinted pattern, with the photo tucked on the next page. To scan it safely, we started by unravelling the string binding, then carefully opened and scanned each page.

We also digitised a set of framed portrait photos from the same box, also dating back to WWII. Both the book and the frames were scanned on top of our glass with a cloth-covered board underneath - placing delicate material like this under the glass would risk damaging it.

How lovely is this?!

07/09/2026

What we worked on in August 2026!

This month, the TownsWeb team worked on a great mix of new and ongoing projects, including two brand-new collections from The Photographer's Gallery and Sarratt Local History Society, alongside continued work with the Museum of Scottish Railways, The Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo and Historic Houses Foundation.

📖 Two scrapbooks from Sarratt Local History Society, carefully unbound page by page for scanning
🚂 A WWII-era photo book and framed portraits from the Museum of Scottish Railways.
🎭 Photo prints from The Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo, including this month's favourite: a kangaroo mascot at Edinburgh Castle.
🖼️ A stitched-together poster scan for The Photographer's Gallery.

We also installed new, higher-quality lighting on our large Guardian scanner this month, and made several improvements to our CaptureOne colour correction process - all aimed at improving scan quality going forward.

Looking ahead to September, we'll be wrapping up our current batches with The Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo and Unilever, and starting new projects with North Northants Council, The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, and a new batch from The Photographer's Gallery.

Got material that needs digitising? Get in touch with our team.

Read more on Millies blog here: https://hubs.li/Q04w4Mgk0

04/09/2026

Our Match Funding Pot is officially back for 2026!

Following the announcement of this year’s ten main grant winners, the Match Funding Pot is now officially open, closing on 18th September 2026.
From this date, all remaining eligible applicants can access up to £1,000 in matched funding to help bring your digitisation plans to life.

How it works:
- For every eligible application received, £500 has been added to the pot. Now open, applicants can request matched funding - meaning we’ll double any amount you contribute yourselves, up to £1,000 (e.g. contribute £1,000, receive £1,000 from us).

If you haven't already arranged a meeting with us to request matched funding, you can now do so here (https://hubs.li/Q04w3T9g0).
Be quick - funds are awarded on a first-come, first-served basis, and once the pot is empty, it’s closed!

03/09/2026

We're proud to share the completion of a fantastic new project: the digitisation of the J.A. Baker archive, held by the University of Essex!

Baker, an Essex-born writer based mainly in Chelmsford, wrote The Peregrine (1967) - a book that examined the environmental damage caused by pesticides to birds of prey decades before it became a mainstream concern. The archive includes handwritten manuscripts, bird-watching diaries, proofs, correspondence, and photographs.

Over the coming weeks, we'll be sharing some of the most remarkable objects and stories we encountered while working on this collection - watch this space!

Watch the full interview about the project, here: https://hubs.li/Q04w4S6V0

02/09/2026

Ever wondered what really goes on behind the scenes of a digitisation project? 👀

Step inside the morning in the life of a TownsWeb digitisation technician - from carefully handling centuries-old manuscripts and fragile bindings to capturing every page with precision scanning equipment to the quality checks that ensure every image is archive-ready.

Every document that passes through our studio gets treated with the same level of care, whether it's a ledger, a handwritten diary, or a photograph that hasn't seen daylight in decades!

29/07/2026

Scanning negatives, to cropping on Capture One, to the final product!

Watch as magic happens on an exciting project with The Royal Edinburgh Tattoo.