A FIRM that has donated new equipment which will help make the district’s photographic archive more accessible has visited the project to see its progress.

Experts at Bradford Industrial Museum have been digitising prints and negatives, of which there are around 500,000 in the archives. The largest collection is that of Bradford commercial photographer CH Wood.

Cleckheaton-based brake friction manufacturer TMD Friction has donated state-of-the-art photographic and scanning equipment to the project to help speed up the process.

It follows the discovery that more than 18,000 of the images in the archive are of historical interest to the firm as a number of its brands, including Mintex were photographed by CH Wood.

John Hudson, chief executive officer of TMD Friction, said: “From the early years of Le Mans, helping the “Bentley Boys” secure five victories during the 1920s and 1930s, pioneering the disc brake that helped Jaguar to a total of five Le Mans wins between 1951 and 1957 and supporting Carlos Sainz to two Rally World Championships, TMD has enjoyed a rich heritage spanning more than 136 years.

“These monumental moments and many more were captured on the reels of film, and through the support of the Bradford Industrial Museum we’re looking forward to preserving our legacy within the automotive industry.”

Mr Hudson visited the Eccleshill museum yesterday, with Councillor Sarah Ferriby, Bradford Council’s portfolio holder for environment, sport and culture, and Maggie Pedley, the Council’s museums and galleries manager.

Mrs Pedley added: “This partnership has been incredibly beneficial to us.

“Many images from the archive are already digitised and accessible; the equipment will help us to accelerate the digitising process, allowing for greater public online access to this amazing resource.”

The equipment that was donated included a Canon digital SLR camera with lens and extenders, an Apple iMac, a lightbox, as well as image capture software and copy stand equipment.