EXPLORING THE RECORD OFFICE

As part of our ‘Changing Face of Ryde’ project, 16 members and friends spent a fun and informative afternoon at the IW Record Office on Tuesday. Richard Smout, IW Heritage Manager, opened the office especially and entertained the group in his usual marvellous style.

In the first part of the session, Richard told us the type of documents and information to be found on the shelves and in the store room at the Record Office and explained many of the pitfalls of researching both individuals and houses. Always keep an open mind and expect the unexpected was one of the messages to remember, and another was to be open and tell the staff what research you’re doing and how they can help you. Their knowledge is second to none and often they can show you documents you didn’t know existed to help in your quest.

Next Richard had prepared a pack with some fun exercises to get us all thinking. Working in pairs, the first was a ‘spot the difference’ game comparing two early engravings of Ryde from the 1800s. Drawn at slightly different angles, the pictures almost looked the same until you looked closer at the details and could then pick out new streets and buildings in the later one. Richard, of course, showed us lots of things we’d missed! In the pack were examples of maps and street directories we had time to examine before time for our second exercise – using a detailed map and a street directory we were challenged to find a particular house on the map. Richard said “the clues are there”. After plenty of chatter, laughter and a certain amount of bewilderment, Richard called time and asked for the answer. Of course, we all gave different ones! And we were wrong! The clues included a chapel which I think everyone identified fairly easily but what we all missed was one side of the street on the map actually showed the back of the houses from the next street and although it was true the writer had started from 2 Upton Road, he had walked past the backs of these houses and started at the bottom working his way back towards Upton Road. We had all started top to bottom!

The whole exercise, although lots of fun, had a serious purpose to show us how easy it is to get things wrong if you don’t spent enough time studying the details or understanding the documents in front of you.

The rest of the afternoon, which went so quickly, was spent looking at large maps and a whole range of documents Richard had got out from his archives. Most dated from around the First World War period and included diaries, minute books, school records, property valuations, registers and lots more as well as the usual card indexes, street directories and books available on the shelves around the room.

At the end of the afternoon everyone showed their appreciation to Richard and his staff for a interesting and absorbing time. We hope it will inspire more of you to use the Record Office and its vast resources more often. The office is open Monday to Friday except Tuesday and is free to use. It is always a good idea to phone before you go if you want a particular document or advice so the staff can get it ready for you (it helps tremendously if you have made a note of the reference number on the document for repeat visits).

Photos and Report by Carol Strong