The Western Morning News Collection
The main photographic collection at SWiB forms part of the Western Morning News collection of original negatives, the wartime part of the collection is currently held at Plymouth And West Devon Record Office the images of which are accessible via the Evening Herald photosales web page.
The SWiB collection of negatives was deposited in 2006 by Chris Robinson, director of the association, local historian and correspondent for the Herald, and accounts for the many news stories and events featured in the local papers covering Devon and Cornwall.
Were you or anyone you know ever featured in the local papers?
Are you interested in seeing how Plymouth has changed over the last fifty years?
Do you remember the electricity blackouts of the early 70s, the fireman strike of 1977,
Or the many ships which sailed from Plymouth to the Falklands?
Do you remember the last tram to make it’s journey in Plymouth?
We have around two million WMN negatives which we are busy scanning and cataloguing in to an internal searchable database. The earliest image is dated 1945, with a consistent run from the 1960s onwards through to 2002.
The images offer a wonderful complement to the collection of newspaper articles on microfiche at Plymouth Central Library.
Other Collections
We also have many smaller photographic collections and additional non-photographic complementary material which have all been added to the research database as follows;
- Harvey Crane theatre reviews, 1957-1984, SWiB reference HC
- Photographs taken by local photographer Roy Westlake, 1940s-1980s, some wartime, SWiB reference RW
- Tecalemit papers, photographes and associated material, 1940s-1980, SWiB reference T
- Plymouth Argyle, photographs and associated paraphernalia, 1960s-1980s, SWiB reference ARG/1
- Plymouth Argyle, programmes and fan club magazines, 1966-2000, SWiB reference ARG/2
- Plymouth College negatives, 1900-1911, SWiB reference, AD/3
- Bill Strauss collection of photographs, SWiB reference, WS
- Topical brochures and leaflets, 1923-2004, SWiB reference AD/5
- Sir Francis Chichester Commemorative Photographic Album, 1970, (for reference only) SWiB reference AD/6
- Incidents file of photographs (impact of war on Plymouth), 1941-1945, SWiB reference AD/7
- Stratton Creber estate files and photographs of managed properties, 1960s-1980s, SWiB reference EA/1
- Nipper Parsons photographic collection, 1950s-1960s, SWiB reference NP
Public Deposit - Photographs of the demolition of Torquay Hotel, 1970s, SWiB reference PD/2
- 1920s-1960s images of Plymouth taken George Forest, a Royal Naval photographer, SWiB reference PD/3
- A photograph of the band stand, Plymouth Hoe, 1920s, SWiB reference PD/4
- A photograph of Plymouth City Centre, New George Street, 1950s, SWiB reference PD/5
- Photographs of local public transport, Southern and Western National buses, 1940s-2000, (See our transport online gallery) SWiB reference PD/6
- Photographs taken by Derek Hiscock, including Plymouth Power Station staff, Prince Rock, 1950s and photographs of listed buildings, Barbican, taken in 2000, (See our Plymouth & Districts and Business Industry Agriculture online galleries) SWiB reference PD/7
- Letter card showing areas of Devonport at the turn of the century, 1900s, SWiB reference PD/8
For details of any new acquisitions, visit our news and events page.
We hope in time to link our internal catalogue database to the website which will provide direct access to our collections for those pursuing online research. At present, a selection of images from our collections can be viewed via our online galleries page.
