Bedfordshire

We visit the county as staff at the county archives in Bedford are working towards a limited and gradual reopening in the autumn. Service manager Pamela Birch tells us that during peak lockdown the team worked remotely where possible, accessing network drives and cataloguing software, but many were in fact seconded away for the council’s community-hub work – arranging prescriptions and shopping pick-ups for shielding residents. Now staff are beginning to return to the building to clear the backlog of remote enquiries.

“One of the archivists has almost single-handedly kept track of enquiries coming in, and responded