TNA Disappointment
What a cheerless place The National Archives at Kew has become. In ‘days of old’ I would arrive early in the morning, have a coffee, do some research, have a coffee break, do more research followed maybe by a snack and more research, leaving about 3pm or so. On my recent visit, however, I found that car park charges were now in operation, and to follow my old habits would cost £7. I compromised with a two-hour visit (£2.50) with no coffee, no snack and certainly no browsing of the bookshop.
I noticed that the car park was less than a quarter full, and there were far fewer people in the searchrooms. Which was probably good because the number of PCs has been drastically reduced, and the floor had the air of emptiness and desolation. I guess the PC reduction was a cost-saving action, but why not move the shelves of county books into the space to give it a more ‘cosy’ feel? As usual it was rather cold, and I had come prepared by wearing two jumpers and a gilet – but some fingerless gloves would have been useful! The one bright spot was the kind and everhelpful staff.
Barbara Dye, by email
EDITOR REPLIES: I think one of the difficulties they had at TNA was people using the car park who weren’t visiting the archive. Compared with parking at our local shopping centre, £2.50 for two hours doesn’t seem that bad (although I can’t imagine only spending two hours at TNA!).