TWENTY-SIX years worth of back copies of the Teignmouth Post have been preserved thanks to the efforts of historians.

Teign Heritage Museum is now the custodian of 44 volumes of bound copies of the weekly newspaper from 1982 to 2008.

The conservation came after the museum acquired the copies from the library which was no longer able to conserve back copies of the Teignmouth Post of the years 1982 to 2008.

Teign Heritage Museum archivist Rosemary Booth explained: ‘They were stored in the main archive room and were a constant source of irritation to people using the computers, under which they were housed.

‘The boxes were too heavy to lift and as a resource they remained unused.

'However, two years ago Lin Watson, senior archivist and I decided to try and get them bound so that not only present researchers, but also those to come in the years ahead would have an incredible resource.’

They found a firm in Falkirk, Scotland called RDW Book & Paper Conservation Ltd who would be prepared to undertake the work, and quoted the sum of £2,800 to collect, bind and deliver the 22 boxes containing the old papers.

Rosemary said: ‘As we are an independent museum relying entirely upon volunteers and our own resources for funding this seemed an almost impossible task.

'But Teign Heritage has a history of raising money to fund improvements and acquire new resources.

‘Lin already had plans for more audio visual and virtual reality items for the museum.

‘She prepared a request for a grant from the National Lottery Project: New Pathways and Better Access for Wider Audiences in Teignmouth and Shaldon which included the £3,000 required for the newspaper binding.’

In March this year the grant was approved and the first item to be addressed was the newspapers.

In a matter of a few weeks they were ready and 44 volumes bound in red with gold lettering were delivered to the museum.