The National Archives (TNA)

buccaneer66;51950 wrote:

This is why I'm going there as I need to view their selection for Desborough.

Phone them first or email so they can get them ready for you. That is what they told me to do.

Not only will TNA be charging for parking, the RAFM does as well. £2.50 for three hours or £3.50 for six hours. Not as bad as TNA and you dont have to book.

It seems the parking charges have stalled so at least that is OK for now. I have to say, having been there a few times recently everything is fine almost a pleasure, files taking a few minutes instead of 45, no limit on the number of files per visit etc. So fantastic!

Has anyone ever looked at the Beach Survey Records in ADM 326 (1946 to 197?)? They appear to hold a selection of vertical aerial photographs and obliques as well as map tracings. I assume a report is also held. Sadly each of these elements seem to be in separate files and cover numerous areas around the coast incluiding Northern Ireland but I wanted to know if the aerial photo coverage was good or not as it might help with some questions on range locations as well as other coastal defences.
I had planned a visit to TNA last week but other events took over.

discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/SearchUI/Home.mvc

This is the beta version of the new search facility at TNA. I have used it a few times and appears to be quite good in that it offers the detail on the initial view. The context is not obvious until you click thr "Browse from here" tab but otherwise it is quicker to see what your'e looking at. Narrowing the search ctriteria is a lot easire as well.
I haven't tried the ordering service via this route yet but hope to in the next few weeks but it does make it easier to spot which ones are available to view/buy online.
The only bit missing is user added information which I would have liked to see. I assume this would need vetting and therefore very time consuming but very useful if you want to avoid misleading file titles.

Looks very good, nice and clear.

Carnaby;83520 wrote:

I hope they retain the original search, as it is far easier to create (eg Excel) lists of documents suitable for browsing.

Agreed. I did see a save facility but it didn't appear to be available on the lists I wanted/

It seems that large chuncks of AIR27 are now avaialble for purchase at the TNA Documents Online website.

www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/documentsonl...&query=*&queryType=1

Each set costs £3.50 for between 4 and 400+ pages
I bought a sample and the documents are fine but reproduction of the photos is a bit rough. Good value for the 400+ page files but not so for the 4 page unless you have a specific set of dates in mind.
Cheaper than petrol/parking/train though!