KMC Archives
By Jim Gregson
Photographs
Members should watch out for new batches of archive photos which are due to appear on the KMC website fairly soon. Jim Gregson was given two sets of photographs by Pat Seddon, Derek’s wife (never actually a member in her own right); one set came as B + W prints and were taken by Derek over the years, and Jim has rephotographed these into digital form. A second set came via pat but belonged to the collection of Bowden Black; these came as a set of actual glass slides plus a few colour slides of more recent vintage. Paul Evans has very kindly scanned and digitised the glass slides and the originals have gone to Dave Shotton for safekeeping. All of the digital files have now been passed over to the webmaster, Al Metelko, for eventual posting up onto the KMC website.
It has not been possible, so far, to identify all of the early KMC people who are in the photos - as there are not many old-timers left who might recognise anybody - but if anyone else can identify people and/or locations that information would be welcome and useful. Jim has asked Al if it might be possible to have these historic photos placed in a more ‘dedicated’ section of the website (as opposed to being in the normal Gallery section) as it is felt that that would encourage more members to look at them without having to scroll through a lot of contemporary stuff. With luck, this material will be available before too long.
Sound & Vision
Some members will have found and listened to (from the KMC website) the recorded interviews made a few years ago by Jim Gregson with founder member Len Stubbs. Jim also has another such interview made with Ken Beetham, waiting to be digitised (from a cassette tape original) - any member who has the knowledge, skills, software that could help with this is invited to make contact.
Following on from a prompt and suggestion by Emily Pitts, Jim has agreed to work with Emily as the 75th Year proceeds to make a series of recordings - possibly video as well as sound - to add to the Club archives. An initial list of members who have long association with the KMC has been drawn up as potential interviewees, and they will be invited to take part in this project. Hopefully they will all agree to contribute and the work can then progress over coming months.
It is hoped that such interviews will help to preserve more of the Club’s history and capture anecdotes about memorable and significant members. If you find that your name is on the (first) list, please volunteer your co-operation; your stories and memories are important and they need to be preserved. If you don’t get an invitation, don’t fret — your turn may eventually come at a later date, giving you time for more memories!
Jim Gregson & Emily Pitts
