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The Great War (1914-1918) Forum

Remembered Today:

UK National Archives to re-open from 8 December


keithmroberts

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I managed to confirm my booking for 08/05 by way of TNA Chat Line, which seems to be the new way of contacting them. It all seemed very quick and efficient. For info The Reading Rooms do not open till 10.00 but you can enter the locker rooms at 09.30.

Brian

EDIT: I need not have worried. I received an e mail on Monday 03/05 from TNA to give me a last chance to amend my order.

EDIT 2: I arrived at 0945, booked in and joined the queue. We were let upstairs five at a time. The tables in the Reading Room were for two people with a partition in between, but I only saw one person per table. Everyone, staff and visitors, was polite and well behaved. The car park was free.

Brian

Edited by brianmorris547
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  • 4 weeks later...

What's the secret for joining the que to get copying done at the NA?

They open at 09:00 and at 09:04 I received the message 

we have reached our capacity for today. Please come back tomorrow (or on the next working weekday) from 09:00 to place your order. 

[https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/help-with-your-research/record-copying/]

Is it as simple as being online at 09:00? :(

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Like trying to get tickets for concerts, have several devices on the go, keep,trying, be in the queue before the site opens, then its pot luck. 

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Haven't tried to book, so no issues to report. I had not seen this bulletin from a few weeks ago, though

 

Increased reading room capacity, services and opening hours

Wednesday 12 May 2021
 
 

In this release

We are pleased to confirm that we are making some changes to benefit visitors to our reading rooms, in response to visitor feedback and in line with changes to government coronavirus restrictions.

Effective immediately:

  • We are doubling the number of bulk document orders available each day (two consecutive day visits, for visitors wishing to research between 20 and 40 documents from the same catalogue series)

From Tuesday 18 May:

  • We are extending our reading room opening hours, giving visitors more time to research documents. The opening hours will be 09:30 to 15:30
  • We are re-opening our café from Tuesdays to Fridays, offering food and drink to visitors who have booked their visit in advance
  • We are increasing the number of visits that visitors can book in a rolling four-week period (up to three visits of any type, standard or bulk)

We will keep all of our arrangements under regular review, in line with changes to government coronavirus restrictions.

Booking a visit

Our reading rooms are now open to pre-booked visitors. You must book a visit to view our documents.

All visitors must continue to book their visit and order their documents in advance. This helps us to maintain the safety measures that remain in place to help us follow government guidelines, including document quarantine and social distancing.

Our booking service offers four weeks’ availability on a rolling basis, with new dates added daily.

Our reading room services

Our reading room services include:

  • Over 100 reading room places per day, five days a week (Tuesday to Saturday, 09:30-15:30).
  • 12 documents per day limit, plus three reserve documents in case of unavailability, or between 20 and 40 documents from the same catalogue series if booking a bulk document order visit.
  • Visits of two consecutive days will be available for visitors wishing to research bulk document orders (between 20 and 40 documents from the same catalogue series).
  • Supplementary research resources, including finding aids, microfilm/fiche and library materials, available to pre-order (currently excludes National Register of Archives lists).
  • Staffed enquiry desks and access to computers for visitors using the reading rooms.
  • Limited opening of our shop (12:00-15:30) for visitors using the reading rooms.

Status of our other public services

The status of our other public services is as follows:

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  • 2 weeks later...

Warning

I went to TNA this morning and the M4 eastbound from the M25 was closed. We had to take a marked diversion around the Heathrow perimeter road before rejoining the M4. It was bad enough this Saturday morning so it will be worse on a weekday. I do not know how long the roadworks are set for. There was no warning on the M40 going down. 

Brian

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Have any recent visitors asked for a camera stand? I ahve booked a visit later this week, and it is no longer possible to know whether the allocated table will have a stand. I am due to be in the large document room, where my main purpose is to pgotograph a fairly considerable number of maps for future study, especially since the catalogueing makes it hard to be sure in some cases which ones will be of most interest.

 

I emailed immediately after my booking asking for confirmation that a camera stand would be available, but am still waiting for a reply. I really don't fancy a 190 mile round trip to find that I have to copy all the maps while working hand held, and standing upright all the time.

 

Keith

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Hello Keith,

When I last went, about 10 days ago, each block of desks had its own contraption that looked like an anglepoise lamp. I took over 200 photos with said device. It saved me traipsing over to where the sturdy camera stands were, and I imagine they have purposely done this, so there are enough to go round.

Hope this is reassuring. 

Keith

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The camera stands that have been fitted are a helpful addition, but I must say that I found mine a bit flimsy and that its grip on the camera was a bit iffy. Also not easy to get a nice alignment with a document sitting square on the table. But hey ho, needs must.

Edited by Chris_Baker
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Thanks both, at least it seems that my journey won't be a waste of time. I do have a spare battery for my camera, and will take the charger so I'll be able to swap  over batteries as the day progresses.

 

Keith

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There's a limited but much appreciated service in the canteen, too. I was able to grab a much needed coffee in the middle of my session.

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2 hours ago, keithmroberts said:

Have any recent visitors asked for a camera stand? I ahve booked a visit later this week, and it is no longer possible to know whether the allocated table will have a stand. I am due to be in the large document room, where my main purpose is to pgotograph a fairly considerable number of maps for future study, especially since the catalogueing makes it hard to be sure in some cases which ones will be of most interest.

 

I emailed immediately after my booking asking for confirmation that a camera stand would be available, but am still waiting for a reply. I really don't fancy a 190 mile round trip to find that I have to copy all the maps while working hand held, and standing upright all the time.

 

Keith

Keith

On TNA Home page there is a Live Chat line (not available on Monday). I got a very quick answer to my query via this method. 

Brian

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5 hours ago, brianmorris547 said:

Keith

On TNA Home page there is a Live Chat line (not available on Monday). I got a very quick answer to my query via this method. 

Brian

Cheers Brian. When I first tried to contact them it was outside the hours, so I sent an email. I seem to get stuck into history later each day nowadays, but I think I'll rely on the posts above, it seems that additional moveable stands are being made available if the fixed ones are in use. I'll take the lighter camera, and go with it.

 

keith

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