The Lost Decades
Unearthing the unseen years of North Devon’s visual history
Between the fading sepia tones of the Beaford Old Archive and the celebrated work of James Ravilious and Roger Deakins lies a striking absence—a visual silence where North Devon’s changing landscapes, lives, and livelihoods went undocumented.
The Lost Decades is a bold new project that seeks to bridge that gap, rediscovering and restoring the missing years through photography, stories, and community collaboration. This initiative is unlocking the full potential of the Beaford Old Archive by tracing the decades left in the dark—capturing the spirit, resilience, and transformation of North Devon across a time largely unseen.
From the 1950s to the 1970s, rural life was shifting. Farms modernised, villages evolved, and traditions began to bend under the weight of change. Yet little survives to show us how these decades shaped the region we know today. With The Lost Decades, we aim to fill that void—illuminating the overlooked, preserving the everyday, and reconnecting the community with its visual heritage.
This is more than just an archival project. It’s a reclamation of memory. A stitching together of the past. A chance to see North Devon in all its continuity and change—one photograph at a time.
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