Team helps preserve Oldham’s Book of Remembrance

08 Nov 2013 A team from The University of Manchester Library has helped save Oldham's Book of Remembrance ahead of this Sunday's Remembrance Service. The Centre of Heritage Imaging and Collection Care (CHICC), part of The University of Manchester Library, were a key part of the team which has helped preserve Oldham's Book of Remembrance and digitise the records. The work was part of a larger conservation and repair project for Oldham's Civic War Memorial, a Grade II listed structure located close to the parish church on Church Terrace in the town centre. Caroline Checkley-Scott, Collection Care Manager at the University Library, said: "The pages of the Book of Remembrance are attached to a drum, with a mechanism made and formerly maintained by apprentices form local firm Ferranti, which turns to reveal a new page with names of those townspeople who lost their lives in the service of their country on that day during the Second World War. After preparing a condition report and photographing the book, the pages were removed from the drum with the help of staff and students at Oldham Technical College. Individual pages were then dry-cleaned using a specialist cleaner, powder and brushes at the CHICC studios. "Tears in the paper were repaired using Japanese tissue, toned to match the original, and this was fixed in place using a special paste made from wheat starch.