THE Monmouthshire Museums Service team at Chepstow Museum are delighted to announce they have been awarded a grant of just under £18,000 by the Armed Forces Community Covenant Grant Scheme.

The grant has been awarded to support a brand new project which will fully catalogue the photographic collection the museum holds relating to the Army Apprentices' College based at Beachley.

In 1915, the government requisitioned a large area of land at Beachley with the intention of making a camp for manufacturing armaments. However, the First World War ended before production began and, instead, it was decided in 1924 to establish an Army Apprentices School at Beachley Point. It is now an infantry barracks, permanent home of the First Battalion The Rifles (1 RIFLES)

Operating between 1924 and 1994, the college trained thousands of skilled tradesmen for army service and played an important role in Chepstow's history. The collection was gifted to the museum by the MOD on the closure of the college in 1994.

This project could not have gone ahead without the help of the Community Covenant grant and support from the Beachley Old Boys' Association, who have been working closely with the museum for a number of years.

The project will focus on creating a computer catalogue entry for each photograph in the 4,000 strong collection and scanning the photograph to provide a digital image. Once catalogued, the photographs will be much easier to access for research, education and community use. Cataloguing will also help to ensure that the significance of the collection is preserved for the future. A large team of volunteers, from both the local community and the armed forces community, is working with museum staff on the project.

Helen Clark, the museum's collection access co-ordinator said: "We have a fantastic team of cataloguing volunteers working on the project - including several former apprentices and instructors from the college!"

Anne Rainsbury, curator of Chepstow Museum said: "The Beachley collection is an important archive within Chepstow Museum documenting 70 years of the history and development of the college and the site. The Army Apprentices College had a big impact on Chepstow and changed the lives of many local people, and brought others to work here and make it their permanent home. We hope this project highlights Beachley's history for its newer residents at 1 RIFLES as well as its relationship to the town."

The project has been running since January and alongside the many official photographs in the collection, some more personal glimpses of life at the college are emerging, such as the postcard of the college sent in 1938 by apprentice tradesman Vic Gray to his parents in St Helier, reminding them that they needed to sign a consent form to allow him home on leave, he was "keeping alright" and "the Commandant is inspecting kit and room Saturday".

There are still some afternoon volunteering opportunities available. To find out more please contact Helen Clark on 01291 625981.