Celebrating a quarter century working for the Archive Service
- 14th October 2012
Dr Adrian Gregson, our Collections Manager, recently reached the milestone of working for 25 years with Worcestershire County Council. We asked him a few questions about his time here.
What job did you do when you joined Worcestershire Record Office (now part of Worcestershire Archive and Archaeology Service), and what did it entail?
It was Hereford and Worcester in those days. I was Supervisor in Central Filing, County Hall but I also did some searchroom work. I did other archivist work as well including field work collecting records, and of course visiting places across the two counties for talks and exhibitions. We were based next to the Motorways section so we learned a lot about the bridges on the M5 and M50 – seems ironic we are back with Highways again! [N.B. the Archive and Archaeology Service has recently moved under the new Business, Environment and Community Directorate at Worcestershire County Council, which means we now sit alongside the Highways Department amongst others].
How have things changed in the time you’ve worked here?
Technology is most obvious difference. I remember buying the first computers for our section with some trepidation. Also the whole concept of filing, records management and retention scheduling has developed in the Council so that there is now much more acceptance of its importance and relevance. The old bar’s gone now, and some of the old characters of the place. Some of them are still here – you know who you are!
What are your highlights, and/or your favourite document/archive?
Teaching a Chief Officer on a Family History evening class only 3 months into the job; organising the first county local history fair; the first day we were allowed into the Hive last December.
Favourite archive: possibly a collection of photos of the Worcestershire Yeomanry in Egypt and Palestine in the First World War
What is your current role and what does that entail?
I am now Archive Policy and Collections Manager and Diocesan Archivist. I’m based at the Hive and lead a team which is responsible for collecting and cataloguing archives from across Worcestershire, as well as supervising document conservation and digitisation programmes.
Adrian is just one of a number of long-serving employees at the Archive and Archaeology Service, which just goes to show it’s not a bad place to be!
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