THE Teign Valley History Centre is now officially open but there’s no physical building to visit – the archive is online at tvhistorycentre.org.

The six hard working trustees of the local charity behind the centre have spent almost four years getting to this position.

At first they tried to set up a traditional museum but the cost of such an enterprise and the lack of a suitable site proved handicaps that were hard to overcome.

Two years ago they decided to go for an online museum instead,

‘It was the only way that we could guarantee keeping our archive intact and available to everyone,’ said trust chairman Graham Thompson.

‘We do hope that at some time in the future we will be able to establish a traditional museum but by creating this digital archive we have made a great start on preserving the Valley’s history.’

More than 60 people attended an official opening at the Teign Valley Community Hall.

After opening comments from Mr Thompson, trustee and IT specialist Nick Kirkland took the audience through the workings of the new website.

‘It is a work in progress,’ he said.

‘We have made a good start on uploading material but there is still a lot more to come.

‘We have tried to make the site easy to use, interesting and informative and so far people have given us a positive feedback.’

Trustee Tony Cook outlined how the centre was funded and urged attendees to sign up to the 100 Club that has been formed to help it pay its way.

People are being invited to take a look at the tvhistorycentre.org website and to alert the ttrustees if they have material or artefacts that would be of interest including photographs, house title deeds, newspaper articles, event programmes, posters or letters.It’s often the small bits and pieces that provide the background to history and makes our past so fascinating.