Say 'CHEESE!' The gang assemble before commencing their research mission
The second of our 4 archive access workshops took place at the National Army Museum in Chelsea, London.
They're a motley crew of keen volunteers - with wildly varying dress sense and indeed variable fashion budget by the look of things - but these guys are our initial Citizen Historians and they have the heart, even if they don't have the tools.
That's where this series of workshops comes in; they get a guided tour and the inside scoop from experts from each archive.
Here's Michael Ball, the NAM's collections, Access & Outreach Manager, giving them an introductory presentation.
In time, they will combine and compile the knowledge they have gleaned into a guide for other Citizen Historians to use to help them along the same journey of discovery in to their shared past.
They were led from behind by our indefatigable project historian, Parmjit Singh, seen here doing what he does best - lunch.
Is anyone going to eat this sandwich?
Then it was down to business as our Citizen Historians dived into the archives to see what they could find.
The NAM has a wide-ranging archive that covers the historical period leading up to and including the First World War.
Not a lot of people know that...
The NAM also has an incredible variety of artefacts in its excellent collection, so the guys got hands on as well as rooting through the archives.
I'll take that, thank you!
The girls joined in too.
Amanroop shows Jasdeep how it's done.
The next Archive Access Workshops will be at The National Archives in Kew and The British Library in London, both in June. Contact us now if you want to take part and if you can't spare the time right now, don't worry, as you can still sign up as a Citizen Historian anytime and do the research at your own pace using our forthcoming research guides. Just get in touch to let us know you're interested and we will give you more information later in the Summer.