OVER the past thirty years or so at The Abergavenny Chronicle I, and fellow reporters, have spent many happy hours browsing through the archive of Chronicles from days gone by, leafing though yellowed pages packed with the everyday details of life in Abergavenny.

They record who was born, who died, who overstepped the mark and landed up in the town’s court rooms and who achieved successes which put Abergavenny on the map.

They faithfully chronicle the growth of the town and its surrounding area as people come and go and leave their indelible mark on the area which they make their home.

They tell the stories of the people of Abergavenny from the paper’s early days when local businessman James Straker decided that the town was ripe for an exciting new media venture, to the death of its first editor in a tragic railway accident and the death of its second due to exhaustion at his desk. 

Thank goodness the Chron was also able to cover the Lottery  win of former editor Pat Griffiths which reversed the fortunes of the job  and ensured it was not seen as the most unlucky role in publishing.

Nowhere is the changing face of the town recorded in such a detailed and humanising way than in the pages of its own weekly paper which over the years have been perused by thousands of people as they research family history, look back for an old school photograph or hunt down an elusive memory.

And now sadly that archive is at risk.

As you might have noticed our Nevill Street offices have been closed for some time as we tackle much needed renovation and repair work on the historic building.

With work finally about to begin and the offices set to be remodelled there is sadly no room at the inn for the Chronicle’s comprehensive archive, which narrowly escaped a one way trip to Llanfoist tip at the hands of over zealous clearers just a few weeks ago.

Over the past few months we’ve set off on various routes to find an alternative home for the sizeable archive but with most places anxious to cut back on their own collections the task is seemingly impossible.

For some outlets the archive is not regarded as unique enough, others worry about having to preserve the bound copies while others balk at its sheer size.

With time running out it looks likely that the collection of 150 years worth of history could soon be split up between individual collectors or even worse lost completely.

The thought of the books, which contain such valuable history much of which is yet to be explored, could be consigned to a skip simply doesn’t bear thinking about.

We’re still hopeful that somewhere can be found, but if anyone reading this columns has any thoughts  about new avenues we could explore, or even better, access to a sizeable room combined with the desire to save a priceless part of Abergavenny’s history I would be forever grateful.

Please feel free to drop me a line at [email protected] or ring me on 07534889181