Runcorn Memories: Eye on history as unitary county looks to the future

By Runcorn And Widnes Weekly News on Mar 26, 09 12:40 PM in 2000 onwards

ARCHIVIST Jonathan Pepler of Cheshire's Public Record Office gave Runcorn Historical Society members an insight into the challenges facing their office in the immediate future.

Speaking at the society's annual meeting at a time when the existing Cheshire County Council had only 25 days left in its present form, he said it had served the county for 120 years - a total of 43,800 days.

Despite the county being split into east and west, he believed that the new Cheshire East would still maintain its arrangements with both Halton and Warrington local authorities.

He said the electronic age was constantly throwing up new challenges and underlining the importance of looking at the best ways and means of ensuring historic records were preserved.

It would probably mean developing new partnerships and they would also need to look at how best to work with societies such as the Runcorn group.

The speaker also touched on the county's massive new underground storage facilities developed at Winsford salt mine which they had found were absolutely perfect for the purpose.

Dispelling fears that salt and corrosion were inextricably linked, he said that humidity and temperature controls had eliminated those problems.

Mr Pepler was thanked for his talk by the society's new chairman David Sterry.