More than 5,000 images from the Aerofilms Collection have been conserved and digitised, and they are available to be viewed online for the first time on a brand-new website, britainfromabove.org.uk, which also features about 12,000 other photographs from across the UK. Many of the photos were said to have been taken during the early days of aviation by former war pilots at very low altitudes.
Britain from Above allows users to download free images and share personal memories, as well as adding information to help enrich the understanding of the story behind each one. The public can also help identify the locations of a number of “mystery” images that have left the experts stumped.
Due to their age and fragility, many of the earliest plate glass negatives and old photographic prints were said to be close to being lost forever. Digitizing is perhaps the only method of preserving these heirloom photographs. By the end of the project in 2014, some 95,000 images taken between 1919 and 1953 will be available online, showing the changing face of modern Britain.
The photographs are available at http://www.britainfromabove.org.uk/.
NOTE: The http://www.britainfromabove.org.uk/ web site is obviously overloaded. When I first tried to access the site, I received an error message stating "Our system is currently experiencing an extraordinary level of traffic. Please bear with us." I tried again and was able to connect but found the following message on the home page:
We are currently experiencing a very high volume of traffic due to the popularity of the site on launch day - today, 25 June. We apologise if you are having any difficulties accessing our web pages. Please try again later, when the problems should be resolved.
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