THE much-anticipated launch of the Hidden Histories of Rural North Devon: Opening up the Beaford Archive will take place on Sunday, June 25 at Hatherleigh Community Centre.

This is a vibrant and unique three-year project for the people of north Devon, funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund.

Hidden Histories will digitise around 10,000 unseen black and white images from the extensive James Ravilious and Roger Deakins photographic archives and make these publicly available on a new searchable website.

A host of volunteering opportunities are on offer to assist with the digitisation, cataloguing and preservation of the images, as well as the collection of oral histories from people with special insights into the photographs.

Locals and visitors alike are invited to attend ‘New Perspectives’ – a free event from 2pm to 5pm — to celebrate the launch of the project.

Formerly unseen images from the archive collections will be on display, shedding new light on the local heritage and allowing attendees to have a first glimpse at a small sample of the 3,000 plus contact sheets that will be published online later this year.

The Hidden Histories team members look forward to learning more about these and hearing about people’s knowledge and experience of the familiar places and faces captured on film.

Members will be on hand to share information about the volunteering opportunities available and what to expect in the forthcoming months and years of the project.

An oral historian will be in attendance and looking for people interested in becoming trained in oral history techniques, to help support in the ongoing collection of stories and memories.

From 3.30pm, there will be two talks about the local history and landscape, with details to be confirmed.

There will be free refreshments provided throughout and this event is ‘drop-in’ so no pre-booking is needed.

Hidden Histories of Rural North Devon: Opening up the Beaford Archive has been further supported by the Paul Hamlyn Foundation, Elmgrant Trust, Fullabrook CIC, Leader 5 Torridge and North Devon, and the North Devon Coast Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

For more information, please contact Beaford Arts at [email protected] or 01769 572573.

• The pictures, courtesy of the Beaford Archive, show scenes from Hatherleigh in the 1970s. Do you recognise anyone? See more photos in this week’s Times.