The Lost Decades

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Thee Lost Decades

Unearthing the unseen years of North Devon’s visual history

Between the photographs of the Beaford Old Archive and the later work of James Ravilious and Roger Deakins lies a missing chapter.

The years between 1940 and 1970 saw huge changes across North Devon. Farms changed, villages evolved, and everyday life was transformed, yet these decades are only lightly represented within the Beaford collections.

The Lost Decades aims to fill this gap by bringing together photographs, memories and stories from local communities. By finding and preserving images from this period, we can build a richer picture of the people, places and experiences that shaped North Devon.

This is a project about the everyday moments that often go unrecorded: family gatherings, school days, village events, working lives and changing landscapes. Photographs that may have sat unseen in albums and cupboards for generations can help us understand how our communities grew and changed.

Working with five North Devon communities, we are inviting local people to share their photographs, knowledge and memories. Together, we are reconnecting the missing years in the Beaford Archive and creating a lasting record of a time of great change.

The Lost Decades is about discovering the stories behind the photographs and ensuring they are preserved and shared for future generations.

Help us find the lost decades. Bring your photographs from our five communities and help complete the story of 1940–1970.

We’re looking for photographs taken between 1940 and 1970 in Atherington, Bideford, Dolton, Hatherleigh and Kings Nympton. Your images are history. They capture the people, places and everyday moments that tell the story of these communities.

Bring your photographs to one of our Accessioning Days to have them digitised, catalogued and added to the Beaford Archive.

Upcoming Accessioning Days

Hatherleigh – 5 September
Atherington – 3 October
Kings Nympton – 24 October

Coming to an Accessioning Day?

If you have photographs to accesssion you can save time on the day by completing a Photograph Information Form in advance.

Tell us what you know about your images and help us prepare them for inclusion in the Beaford Archive: Photograph Information Form

Beaford Archive:The Lost Decades is made possible with The National Lottery Heritage Fund.

Using money raised by National Lottery players, The National Lottery Heritage Fund supports projects that connect people and communities with the UK’s heritage.

The National Lottery Heritage Fund is the largest funder for the UK’s heritage. Using money raised by National Lottery players they support projects that connect people and communities to heritage. Their vision is for heritage to be valued, cared for and sustained for everyone, now and in the future. From historic buildings, their industrial legacy and the natural environment, to collections, traditions, stories and more. Heritage can be anything from the past that people value and want to pass on to future generations. They believe in the power of heritage to ignite the imagination, offer joy and inspiration, and to build pride in place and connection to the past

With thanks to Dartington North Devon Foundation for their continued support.