Northumberland Archives will no longer open on Sundays

[Gen List Lass]

"We are making a change to our Study Centre opening hours at Woodhorn. From 1 September 2014 we will open Wednesday to Saturday 10 a.m.-4 p.m. The revised opening hours will initially be introduced for a six month trial period during which we will review these changes.
The decision to move to a four day per week opening has been reached as a result of analysing patterns of usage of the Study Centre and other public engagement activity. Over the last few years numbers of people using the Study Centre at Woodhorn have slowly declined whilst at the same time our reach with new audiences is increasing. We are reaching more people than ever before but in different ways. More and more of our work is being delivered on-line, via social media and working with local community groups. Closing on a Sunday will allow us to re-direct more of our resources into these areas of work.
We are committed to providing all of our users with the highest level of service. Closing on a Sunday will allow us to continue to improve our service provision and to make our collections available to wider audiences. The Berwick-upon-Tweed Record Office will continue to be open 9.30 a.m.-1 p.m and 2 p.m.-5p.m Wednesday and Thursday each week."

Gen in NBL England

[Craclyn]

Thanks for the info Gen. Very annoying. Hands-on research in the north-east is becoming virtually impossible for anyone who works. From my own point of view it was irritating enough that they were shut on Mondays but adding Sunday means there is no point in trying to come over to England for long weekends to do research. Going to have to beg even more for kind folks to do look ups

[Gen List Lass]

They are inferring much more is coming on-line, watch their space!

The Study Centre use is weird, some days its nearly empty but now often than not it is crammed. Coachloads arrive some days.

Gen in NBL England

[Craclyn]

If they are rolling out more online I hope they cover non-conformist records. That is where I get hung up on several of my lines and need access to the archives. The CofE stuff is much easier from afar with fairly good online indexes on several sites now plus BTs.