The Collections Story - Moving Methods
One of the questions we’ve been asked most regularly in the run-up to our big move is: “Which records are heading to Crewe, and which are staying in Chester?”
A little while back, we shared a blog post explaining the criteria we’re using to decide where everything should go. Since then, we’ve been busy putting that plan into action. One of the key rules? Local records stay local. Simple in theory… but when you’re dealing with miles of church records, it’s a bit more of a challenge in practice!
Over the past few months we’ve been sorting through the records of Methodist and non-conformist chapels across Cheshire. It’s been a huge task - over 700 chapels have deposited records with us. Sometimes it’s just a few items, other times it’s tens of boxes.
We’ve also been updating our catalogue - adding hundreds of new, detailed descriptions for records that haven’t been listed before. Methodism was strong in East Cheshire and the records from that part of the county are now all sorted and described. Next up: checking the packaging, updating box labels, and - yes - sticker duty!
Here’s the colour code:
Green sticker = heading to Crewe
Blue sticker = staying in the west (Chester)
Pink sticker = off to the saltmine
Nice and simple. And very satisfying when you see those stickers going on!
By Adam Shaw, Archivist
