Bristol Archives

This weekend! Please can all jazz aficionados make their way in an orderly fashion to The Old Duke at 3pm on Sunday 14th April and help the Unlocking Our Sound Heritage team - we've got fabulous rare jazz recordings that we need identified! The recordings were made at Arnolfini during the 1960s-1990s - live performances by local artists. Test your knowledge and help preserve these pieces for posterity!

Get your name down in history!
How? Well, volunteer with our Unlocking Our Sound Heritage (UOSH) team of course!
We need help with our project to digitise rare, unique and at-risk analogue recordings from across South West England to preserve them for future generations to learn from, enjoy, and be inspired by.
... We're looking for:
1) people to help catalogue the collections 2) people to listen through a mystery collection we've been gifted with to help us figure out what's in it!
You'll get full training and support from the friendly UOSH folk. And, as you're name will be on the records you help create, you contribution will be on record for generations to come.
Get in touch with Katie, the project manager, for detailed role descriptions and an application form. And keep Tuesday 30 April open for a taster/training day where you can learn more about what's involved.
You can contact Katie at katie.scaife@bristol.gov.uk or on 0117 922 4212.
And we'll have more volunteer opportunities coming up in the months ahead. We're looking forward to a fascinating and fun 3 years preserving these recordings; join us, get involved now!
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Want to help preserve the South West's sounds? Like unique heritage material? Then we have some good news for you! The Unlocking Our Sound Heritage (UOSH) team has two amazing volunteer opportunities available!
Over the next three years, UOSH will be preserving rare, unique and at-risk sound collections from across the South West. We could use a hand! We're looking for:
1) people to help catalogue the collections... 2) people to listen through a mystery collection we've been gifted with to help us figure out what's in it!
You'll get full training and support; no experience needed. Get in touch with Katie, the project manager, for detailed role descriptions and an application form. And keep Tuesday 30 April open for a taster/training day where you can learn more about what's involved.
You can contact Katie at katie.scaife@bristol.gov.uk or on 0117 922 4212.
And we'll have more volunteer opportunities coming up in the months ahead. We're looking forward to a fascinating and fun 3 years preserving with these recordings; join us, get involved now!
See More

Good news everybody! The Unlocking Our Sound Heritage (UOSH) team has two amazing volunteer opportunities available! If you would like to help preserve unique, rare, and at-risk analogue audio recordings from across South West England, this is for you.
You'll get full training and support from the friendly UOSH folk. We need:
1) people to help catalogue the collections... 2) people to listen through a mystery collection we've been gifted with to help us figure out what's in it!
Get in touch with Katie, the project manager, for detailed role descriptions and an application form. And keep Tuesday 30 April open for a taster/training day where you can learn more about what's involved.
You can contact Katie at katie.scaife@bristol.gov.uk or on 0117 922 4212.
And we'll have more volunteer opportunities coming up in the months ahead. We're looking forward to a fascinating and fun 3 years preserving these recordings; join us, get involved now!
See More

Come help the Unlocking Our Sound Heritage team identify mystery jazz recordings from Arnolfini's audio archive. We're looking for jazz buffs who can help shine a light at The Old Duke on Sunday 14 April. Recorded between the 1960s and 1990s, these rare and undocumented recordings of live jazz performances will be preserved for the future; help us identify the piece or the performers!

Stop! Hey! What's that sound?
When our Unlocking Our Sound Heritage (UOSH) team were digitising Arnolfini's audio archive, they came across several undocument jazz recordings made at Arnolfini during the 1960s-1990s.
They now are asking for help from all of Bristol's jazz aficionados! Come out to The Old Duke on King Street and listen to a selection of our mystery jazz recordings. See if you can recognise the piece or the players!
... We'll be there on Saturday 14 April at 3pm, after the Duke's Jazz brunch. Listen to some true rarities, show off your knowledge!
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Places are still available for our popular Introduction to Family History day workshop, held in conjunction with Bristol & Avon Family History Society. It will be held at M Shed on Saturday 30th March and information and booking details can found here: https://www.bristolmuseums.org.uk/…/wha …/family-history-day/

Hot on the heels of International Womens Day we were delighted to welcome The West of England and South Wales Women’s History Network for a tour of the archives yesterday

We have an exciting new job opportunity for a Rights Clearance Officer to join our Unlocking Our Sound Heritage project team! For more details, and to apply, please see https://jobs.bristol.gov.uk/…/rights-cl earance-officer-3797…

Dydd Gŵyl Dewi Hapus 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 from Bristol Archives! We hold the records of the Cambrian Society (Ref. 40499), which was established 1 March 1869 so the Welsh community in Bristol could celebrate with a dinner and raise charitable funds. Iechyd Da! http://archives.bristol.gov.uk/Record.asp x…

Unlocking Our Sound Heritage was on the road again this week, visiting some of the fascinating collections we'll have the privilege to digitise over the next three years. Yesterday we met this luverly box of minidiscs. This oral history collection at the North Devon Record Office in Barnstaple's North Devon Athenaeum is tidy delight. We look forward to hearing, preserving and sharing these recordings of Winkleigh and Hollocombe residents. Thanks to Gary Knaggs for a warm welcome & an introduction the discs and other collection gems!

On display until 24 May: Our exhibition 'Ten Centuries of Records' highlights the variety of records held here, as well as our current partnerships including the National Lottery Heritage Fund and British Library Sound Archive supported Unlocking Our Sound Heritage project https://www.bristolmuseums.org.uk/…/ten -centuries-of-recor…/

Calling all dialect fans! The Unlocking Our Sound Heritage team want to get their beautiful badges 'translated' into proper Bristolian. How would you suggest we put 'Unlocking Our Sound Heritage' in our lovely local lingo? Imagine the pride you'll wear it with... mint, innit?

On display until 24 May: Our exhibition 'Ten Centuries of Records' highlights the variety of records held here, as well as current partnerships including the National Lottery Heritage Fund project in association with Bristol Old Vic and University of Bristol Theatre Collection. https://www.bristolmuseums.org.uk/…/ten -centuries-of-recor…/

Despite the snow, we are open as normal from 9:30 today, but please take care if you are travelling to visit us ❄️

Since the start of January, the car park outside the Create centre has been reserved for visitors only. From the start of February, towing of vehicles without permits will begin. We therefore remind all archive visitors to obtain their free parking permit from Create reception. For more information on paking and other transport options, please see www.bristolmuseums.org.uk/bristol-archive s/getting-here/

Our annual closure period allows us to work on collections that need spreading out and arranging, like boxes full of Bristol City FC programmes. Archivist Graham is putting archives above rivalry to do this, being a Bristol Rovers supporter! We re-open to the public as normal on Tuesday 29th January.