TWO significant donations of artefacts have swelled the collection of a dale library.
The Fitzhugh Library, in Middleton-in-Teesdale, has taken delivery of about 600 maps of County Durham.
They have been donated to the archive by June Kneller and have come from the now closed field studies centre in the village.
Derek Simms, of the Fitzhugh, said: “At present we are in the process of cataloguing this new collection of maps.”
This task is falling mainly to two volunteers at the library, Judith and Tony Barnett.
Some of the maps have been identified as first edition Ordnance Survey maps from 1856.
There are also maps relating to such things as geology, tourism and footpaths.
Mr Simms added: “We are still working our way through them.”
Local historian Dr Bill Hayes has donated a further 260 maps to the collection.
Dr Hayes said: “I had purchased some maps off eBay for myself. The seller was a retired map dealer from Wales and he offered me this bundle of maps covering County Durham.”
The latest donations mean that The Fitzhugh Library now has well in excess of 1,000 maps in its collection.
Mr Simms is appealing to anyone who has an old map chest in which the Fitzhugh could store the new charts once they are catalogued.
He also believes that a large collection of aerial photographs is actually cross referenced to the Ordnance Survey maps.
He said: “If this is the case it will be like looking at Google Earth before Google Earth was invented.”
He added: “Using the photographs means we can identify features which might have been missed off maps when they were charted.
“There must be an immense amount of local material still hidden away in drawers and cupboards awaiting the all too common fate of being thrown away or destroyed.
“As a charitable trust with an unchanging policy of conservation we can offer a safe and permanent home,” he said.
