COLLECTION:  "PD" PHOTOS DEPOSITED
WITH US AS DIGITAL IMAGES

 

BACKGROUND

During the Summer of 2020, we acquired a copy on CD of around 1200 images (mostly photos) gathered over many years by a local collector, who has lived and worked around Leiston all his life.  Apart from a handful of images for Martlesham Heath airfield, the images are all from the Alde Valley.  We aim to secure this very local collection, identifying and documenting as many of its images as we can — respecting its identity by keeping it separate from our other resources, but aligning it to our normal indexing.  When identification (including dating where possible) is all but complete, the images will be secured on the computers in our Help Centre, for personal viewing only, but this work is still in progress.

 

ORGANISATION OF COMMUNITIES' IMAGES

Our archive of the Collection contains computer-folders of images for each the communities of Aldeburgh (54 images), Aldringham (245), Benhall&Sternfield (22), Friston (50), Knodishall (42), Leiston (69), Martlesham-Heath airfield (8), Orford (17), Saxmundham (5), Sizewell (125), Slaughden (13), Snape (78), Theberton (6) and Thorpeness (163 + (dated 1929/30) 291).  The counts are approximate (and provisional) because of a very few reallocations between communities (included within the adjustments listed below), removal of duplicates, addition of a very few useful explanatory items, etc. 

The original Collection's file-folder structure has been retained, apart from a few simplifications.  Our file-naming convention allows removal of the "Aldringham" subfolders (as explained below).  The "Benhall" folder has been renamed "Benhall&Sternfield", as it also contains images of Sternfield Church, whilst conveniently reflecting the twin-parish area covered by Benhall and Sternfield History Group.  The "miscellaneous-pix" folder now includes all communities with less than four images — namely Dunwich, Farnham, Hazlewood, Iken, Rendham and Tunstall.  The few contents of the former folder called "original" have each been moved to their respective community.  All these changes are reflected in one or other of the tables below.  Additionally, "Slaughden" is no longer a sub-folder of "Aldeburgh", but treated as a separate community, albeit that it no longer has any residents!

Filenames within the Collection have been made more meaningful, prefixed with a nine-character Reference-ID consistent with our Group's Index naming conventions, followed by a fuller text description.  Briefly, each image's filename is prefixed with "PD" and (usually) the first three characters of the location's name, followed by a unique suffix based on the image's subject and/or the Collector's original filename — so typically of the form "PDlocuuuu".

If there are around ten or more images for a community, they don't appear individually in our Index, but only in summary, when the "uuuu"="-PIX" suffix is used to index them collectively as a one-line entry.  So, for example, the title of Knodishall's entry, PDKNO-PIX, includes the comment "(approx 42 images)".  These placenames' folders are listed in bold in the first table below — the other communities each have nine images or less, often in folder "miscellaneous-pix".   

 

REFERENCE-ID PREFIXES

ID format   community / folder
PDALBxxuu   Aldeburgh   "xx"= BE=beach, HI=High Street, ML=Fort Green Mill, SM=Station Mill (demolished 1924), uuuu=etc. 
PDABCyyan   Aldringham Baptist Chapel (where "yy"=19yy, "a"=alphabetic differentiator and "n"=final digit of original filename)
PDARxx??u 
[see para.
below]
  Aldringham   "xx"/"xxx"/"xxxx"/Lmmss= 1844a=White's Suffolk Directory (1844), yyyya=etc, AIR=air accident 24/5/1919, ALM=Alms-houses, BEL=B.R.Shreeve/Belle Coaches, BFZ=The Big Freeze of 1963, CHU=St Andrew's Church, EDW=Bertie Edwards (PO), ELM=Elm Tree Farm, GAN(N)=Gannon family, HOU=Aldringham House, Lmmss or Lmmss=stills from ©1964 Anglia TV documentary on Cecil Lay: "A Gentleman of Suffolk", LAY=Cecil Lay (incl. Raidsend/Aldringham Court), LODG=The Lodge (IP16 4PT), MH=Mill Hill/Heath, MILL, MUR=murder 8/7/1945 newspaper cuttings, PPyy=Parrot & Punchbowl, SC=School, STO=Stone House (IP16 4LT), VIEW, WEB=Andrew Webster (saddler), WWI=Great War documents
 
 
 
PDBENxxuu   Benhall   (in folder "Benhall&Sternfield", formerly named just "Benhall"
        "xx"= BR=Bridge, CH=St Mary's Church, GR=Benhall Green, ML=Old Mill, OV=Old Vicarage, SC=school, "10"=etc.
PDDUNuuuu   Dunwich   (in folder "miscellaneous-pix")
PDFARyyyy   Farnham   (in folder "miscellaneous-pix")
PDFRIxxuu   Friston   "xx"= BH=Blackheath House, CH=St Mary the Virgin Church, CQ=Chequers X-roads except FG=Forge Corner, ML=mill, PO=old Post Office, FRIST=etc.
PDHZuuuuu   Hazlewood   (in folder "miscellaneous-pix") — for PD HZ WW2 MI: air-crash memorial, 24/3/1941, visit Aldringham website.
PDIKuuuuu   Iken   (in folder "miscellaneous-pix")
PDKNOxxuu   Knodishall   "xx"= GV=George V Coronation 1911, ML=mills, RV=Hundred River, SC=school, KNOD0=etc.
PDLEIxxxu   Leiston   "xxx"= ABBey, AIR=WW2 airfield, GAR=Garretts' Leiston Works, SZR=Sizewell Road, uuuu=etc. (≈60% unstructured)
PDLGSuuuu   Leiston   Leiston Grammar School (in folder "Leiston")
PDMHAIRFu   Martlesham-Heath: airfield (plus three explanations MHAIRF0, MHAIRFA and MHAIRFX from Martlesham Heath Aviation Society) 
PDORFxxuu    Orford   "xx"= CA=Castle, CH=St Bartholomew's Church, NS=Orford Ness incl. lighthouses, ML=mill
PDARPPTL7   Rendham   (in both folders "Aldringham" and "miscellaneous-pix") Rendham motorcycle club at Parrot … Aldringham, 1960 
PDSAXxxxu   Saxmundham   "xxx"= HUR=Hurts Hall, ... etc.
PDSIZxxuu   Sizewell   "xx"= CH=Cliff House, DH=Dower House, GP=The Gap, HL=House/Hall, TH=Tea/Ness House, VA=Vulcan Arms, WD=Warden's, WR=wrecks incl. 'Carmenta', 00=etc.
PDSZsxxuu   Sizewell nuclear power stations SZA and SZB, and SZX=Sizewell Crossing/Halt sidings; 
        SZA construction, 1961-67: "sxx"= "APL"=pile-drivers, ARB=Reactor Building, ATH=Turbine Hall, AVW=general view
PDSLAxxuu   Slaughden   "xx"= 3M="The Three Mariners Inn", FE=Ferry, QY=Quay, SLAUG=etc.  [no longer a subfolder of "Aldeburgh"]
PDSNAxxuu   Snape   "xx"= BR=pre-1960 Bridge, CH=St John the Baptist Church, CX=Crown X-roads, FL=1953 flood, MK=Markin's MillML=The Old Mill/Hudson's Mill (Benjamin Britten's home, 1937-47), MT=Snape Maltings, RC=Racecourse, RL=railway: Snape Branch Line,  WT=Sn Watering, XC=Anglo-Saxon Cemetery excavations 1985-92 (images c.1986), SNAPE=etc
PDSTECHuu   Sternfield   (in folder "Benhall&Sternfield" — was "Benhall", tho' contained both St Mary Magdalene Church (Sternfield) images)
PDTHEBuuu   Theberton    
PDTHOxxuu   Thorpeness   "xx"= AL=Almshouses, BA=Old Barn, BE=beach, BH=Benthills, BR=Haven Bridge & Black Mill, CC=Kursaal/Country Club, CH=St Mary's Church (1936-1980s), DL=Dolphin (formerly The Crown), EO=Estate Office (on site of Fishermen's Bethel, now Kitchen@Thorpeness), GC=Golf Clubhouse, GF=Golf Course, HV=The Haven (road), LK=Lakeside (Avenue), ML=C20th mills & House in the Clouds, MR=Meare & Boathouse, NE=Northend, PARu=Partables Farm, RG=Regatta, RL=railway: Thorpeness Halt, THORP=C19th Thorp village, SH=Shellpit Cottages, SY=The Sanctuary, UP=Uplands, VW=general view, WB=West Bar, WG=Westgate, WK=Workmen's Club (and site of the temporary General Stores & Post Office c.1907), WL=Whinlands
PDTHPxxtu   Thorpeness 1929/30 Publicity [original folder "Thorpe 1030"]: "0htu"=original filename's serial no. (up to 287, incl. 8 duplicated nos)
        OR "xxtu" where "xx" as PDTHO above, then tens/units from serial number (hundreds omitted)
PDTUNuuuu   Tunstall   (in folder "miscellaneous-pix")

 

REFERENCE-ID SUFFIXES

The unique (usually four-character) suffix is derived from the image-filename on the original issue CD, unless it is inaccurate.  As far as practicable, it is also chosen so that sets of files in each location's folder remain close to their original order, to retain a respectful continuity with the Collection — though it can also be further divided, typically two-and-two (or three-and-one), so related images fall together — these are listed in the third column of the table above.  For example, there are several windmill views in various places, but (largely) with an ID-suffix of "MLuu", such as "PDKNOML33_ Knodishall-windmill.jpg" (formerly "nv29_033.jpg") — you will see above that some windmill references are highlighted in bold font.

The filename ends with a meaningful description, such as for the first-listed of the Aldeburgh ("ALB") images, "PDALB0053_lifeboats-Lucy-Lavers&Abdy-Beauclerk(both-tog-1940-59).jpg".  Its original filename was ap15_003.jpg, and was listed just before another file, de01_004.jpg — renamed as PDALB0104_launch-of-lifeboat-'George-Houndsfield'-1872.jpg,  so that their relative position within the file-folder is retained.

 ALDRINGHAM :  As there are so many images, its community abbreviation is just "AR" (instead of the usual "ALR"), and that permits a longer, five-character suffix — usually divided three-and-two.  The first segment broadly overlays the original (but now surplus) sub-folder structure — so sub-folder "B R Shreeve" becomes "BEL" (for Belle Coaches);  "Bertie Edwards Post Office" is "EDW";  "Cecil Lay" is "LAY" or (each showing a Lay TV documentary still's timestamp) "Lmmss";  and the "Gannons" are "GAN".  Exceptionally, images from the original sub-folder for the Baptist "CHAPEL" are now prefixed "PDABC".  Thorpeness Halt photos in the original Aldringham folder are now with the other Thorpeness railway images, all of which are prefixed "PDTHORL".

 

FURTHER ADJUSTMENTS

Apart from more descriptive naming of the images, the Collection remains very broadly as was.  Other changes, made for various reasons, are listed below.
Images now held in two folders are of interest to both communities.

Original folder Original filename(s) Current folder(s) Reference-ID in filename [punctuation differs slightly] notes
           
Aldeburgh de01_007 & de28_033 Aldeburgh PD ALB BE 07 The Promenade in 1900 inferior de28_033 ignored
Aldeburgh oc02$002 Thorpeness PD THO 2002 Royal Artillery gunner w/ Morris 15cwt 4x2 GS re uniform, truck, building
Aldringham de28_009 & de28_010 Thorpeness PD THO SH nn Shell Pit Cottages … Thorpeness, IP16 4PG
Aldringham nv14_005 Aldr'gham|Leiston PD LEI GAR 6 -ton undertype wagon on test in Aldringham, 1922 [image in both folders]
Aldringham oc11_002 Aldringham | misc PDHZWW2 MI Hazlewood WW2 air-crash memorial, 24/3/41 Stirling bomber 7 Sqn RAF
Aldringham TL7 (subfolder Parrot) Aldringham | misc PD AR PP TL7 Rendham motorcycle club at Parrot … Aldringham, 1960 [both folders]
Friston de03_004 miscellaneous-pix PD FAR 1908 The Street, Farnham, Saxmundham — 1908 internet-copy title=location
Leiston cadets 1, … cadets 4 Aldeburgh|Leiston PD LEI CAD n Queen & 1379 Sqn Leiston Air Cadets, 2/6/1967 [images in both folders]
Leiston Cutts Cross St Leiston|Theberton PD LEI CUTT Cutt's, Cross St, w/ Zeppelin coffins, 1917 [image in both folders]
Leiston [fragments] school1-4 Leiston PD LGS 1973 Leiston Grammar School panoramic, 1973 copy of LGSPAN73p
Mheath [5 MH Airfield images] Martlesham-Heath 5 images + 3 extra info from Martlesham Heath Aviation Soc only community outside AV
mis[cellaneous] [Iken, Tunstall images] miscellaneous-pix Dunwich, Farnham, Hazlewood, Iken, Rendham and Tunstall images, indiv. indexed
mis[cellaneous] oc02$003 Leiston PD LEI AIR M US airman at Leiston airfield confirmed by PD
mis[cellaneous] Suffolk1910 [map] miscellaneous-pix MAP 1910 SK [PD] Suffolk, 1910 AVSFHG ref-ID convention
mis[cellaneous] Zeppelin crash Theberton PD THEB ZEP Zeppelin L48 crash, 17/6/1917 plus PDLEICUTT ... coffins
Orford de10_002 Slaughden PD SLAUG 02 aerial view of spit looking N to Slaughden, etc Ness: Slaughden is closest
original Bungalow and  House Thorpeness PD THO PAR u colour images (PARB and PARH) replace B&W images of Partables Farm
original my31_003 Aldringham PD AR AIR 03 collision of two aircraft from Hazlewood Naval Air Station, 24/5/1919
original my31_004 Thorpeness PDTHO WKGS temp. General Stores & PO, 1907, on site of Workmens' Club
original my31_005/6 & school Aldringham [PD AR SCuuu  and two heathland-fire images] [images awaiting +ve ID]
original my31_007 Sizewell PD SIZ HL AV avenue to Sizewell House inferior SIZ 74.jpg ignored
Sax[mundham] ja21#001 Aldeburgh PD ALB SM 10 Station Mill w/ station behind c1910 text & station-roof confirms
Sax[mundham]  Saxmundham  mill Aldeburgh PD ALB S MIL Station Mill w/ station behind ditto + image was mistitled
Sizewell 105 Thorpeness PD THORP 05 boats IH29 & IH190 — now near Headlands confirmed -vs- current view
Snape de04_058 Benhall&Sternfield PD BEN BR 58 Benhall Bridge, 1904 [tho' p/card at Sax Museum suggests "Sternfield"]
Thorpeness 44a [map] miscellaneous-pix MAP 1783 PL [PD] East of Plomesgate Hundred (incl Thorp) AVSFHG ref-ID convention
Thorpeness 94 Aldringham PD AR THO 94 Thorpe Road? 26/5/1904  
Thorpeness ...wreck of Carmenta Sizewell PD SIZ WR Cn [n1-5] Wreck of 'Carmenta', 23/2/1916 | wrecksite.eu/wreck.aspx?202818

 

Also, superior AVSFHG copies have been swapped in as
PD ALB 2824 PD AR CHU 08 PD ORF CA 78
PD ALB BUS PD AR L mmss [x20] PD SIZ HL 41
PD ALB MILL PD AR SATEL PD SLA FERR
PD ALB TILL PD LEI CUTT PD SNA MK ML
  PD LEI GAR W