The Society has taken an important step towards preserving and sharing its history following a fascinating visit to the UK Hydrographic Office (UKHO) Archive.

OEM Lucy Anderson, CEO Mark Poole, THS:UKI Director Tirren Ambroziak, and a group of THS:UKI Student and New Graduate Members recently attended a tour of the UKHO Archive facilities, where they were given a unique insight into the preservation of centuries of maritime and hydrographic history.

During the visit, the group had the opportunity to view an extraordinary collection of historic charts, including examples dating back to the 1700s, and to learn more about the work involved in preserving these important records for future generations.

The visit also marked the beginning of an exciting new initiative for the Society. The UKHO Archive team has kindly offered to store a copy of every Soundings magazine and Hydrographic Journal published by the Society over the past 50 years, beginning with Volume 1, published in October 1972.

In an especially exciting development, these publications are expected to be digitised and made accessible online, helping to safeguard and share an important part of the Society’s history with future generations. Further information on the digitisation project will be shared in due course.

THS:UKI would like to extend its sincere thanks to Andrew Leitch for providing such an interesting and insightful tour of the Archive. The visit offered members a rare opportunity to see first-hand how hundreds of years of maritime history are carefully preserved and maintained.

A special thank you also goes to Tirren Ambroziak for helping to sort through the Society’s storage unit and gather the historic publications together in preparation for their delivery to the UKHO Archive.

The Society looks forward to sharing more news about this exciting preservation and digitisation project soon!

For more information about the UKHO Archive, visit the UKHO Archive information page.

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