HISTORIC photographs from The Helmsley Archive showing the involvement of local residents in military and related organisations over the past 120 years have gone on display at the the town’s arts centre.

The Helmsley Archive is a collection of historic photographs of life in the town and the neighbouring villages from the 1870s to the present day.

A website started in November 2010 and since then it has received more than half a million hits and includes more than 3,000 images and associated information on Helmsley, its residents and past events The Helmsley Archive began when the late John Collier bequeathed his collection of historic photographs to Helmsley Town Council. This provoked much interest in the town and also prompted many residents to contribute their own photographs and memories.

Since 2008, the archive has more than doubled in size and a significant bank of information has been amassed, contributing greatly to the knowledge and understanding of Helmsley’s history during the last 150 years.

Dr Paul Harris, one of the co-ordinators, said the archive was run by volunteers and several meetings have been held with groups of local residents to digitise, gather and collate information on their own images and, where possible, to identify the people and places shown.

“The images are arranged into 40 separate albums, which include Helmsley Town, People, Schools, Railway, etc. You can either select an album and just browse the content – or search for particular words, such as individuals’ names, events, locations etc. You do not need to be a computer expert to use the website, or to get useful, interesting information from it,” he said.

“With the continued support from Helmsley Town Council and help from the NYMNPA, prints of archive images have been displayed in a series of themed exhibitions, including Plays and Pageants, Ryedale Journeys, Ryedale School Days and Ryedale Life.”

The current exhibition – Helmsley in Uniform – uses images from the late 19th to the late 20th century. It is open until Friday, August 29. Entry is free and opening times are 10am to 3pm from Tuesday to Friday, and 11am to 3pm on Sundays.

Visit helmsleyarchive.org.uk for details