AS a painstaking mission to bring thousands of collections at Kendal Museum to life reaches a major milestone, reporter Tom Murphy is granted behind-the-scenes access to where the magic happens and meets the people who are so passionate about the project.

IN the basement of Kendal Museum, in a former archaeology store, a pioneering project to photograph thousands of specimens has been completed - one month ahead of schedule.

There are around 5,000 flowering plants in the museum’s herbarium collection, some of which date back to the 19th century and have never been on public display - but thanks to the project will be available to examine, study and research.

In addition to the herbarium collection, two mineral collections with 1,000 specimens - the largest collection of minerals in the North West - are also being recorded, including some originally collected from Cumbrian mines.

Each individual specimen has undergone a strict scientific process which will digitally capture and preserve its appearance for future generations.

All of the photographs will then be uploaded to a specially-designed website where people from across the world can look at them in microscopic detail.

Carol Davies, Kendal Museum's curator, said: “It’s been a long process due to the age, importance, and fragility of many of the items. In fact some of the herbarium collection has been extinct for a number of years so its very exciting that we’re soon going to make it wholly available to the public – whether for research and education purposes – or for people who are simply interested in the beauty of either of the collections.

"It is my policy as curator to make all the collections available for everyone. In the past I have been asked by researchers to view the collection but it is difficult because it is so fragile and some of the specimens date back to the early 1800s

"The minerals represents a time gone-by which can never be acquired again. As a curator my job is to protect the collections and also find ways for them to be shared - the digital imaging is a new way of sharing that to the public to give them the information they want.

"We are a very small museum with an immense amount of material that needs to be shared to the highest level that we can."

The ‘Looking Through A Lens’ project launched in late 2014 with the creation of an image preservation studio at Kendal Museum.

Photographer and digital imaging scientists, Tony Riley and George Platt, supported by Kendal Museum staff and students, have been carefully working to make the collection available.

The museum is believed to be the only one in the UK to be working to the stringent Metamorfoze scientific digitisation guidelines published by the Danish National Archive for accurately recording the appearance of collection items.

When all criteria is met, the resulting image freezes the object’s appearance in time to a preservation quality ensuring that the images are an accurate archive for passing on to future generations.

Once complete, all of the images will be available on a new website and will be available for people to download later this year.

There will also be a touring exhibition and various events, courses, and workshops exploring the collections and digitisation in more detail.

The image preservation studio was set up thanks to funding of £53,400 from the Heritage Lottery Fund.

As well as digitising its own collections, the studio can also produce work for individual clients and other heritage institutions.

Carol added: "I have been involved with the museum for 30 years but this is the most exciting time as a curator because our mission statement is to share our collections and this technology enables us to do what I never dreamed would be possible.

"We are opening it up to a new generation. I am hoping people will see it online and then come to the museum to see the real thing.

"Museums are traditionally seen as dusty old places which are forgotten about but the team we have here are proving that wrong

"In the age of digital technology museums need to move forward and use what we have."

George, who has been involved from the start of the project, first as an intern, said: "It is the equivalent of looking through a magnifying glass but without the distortion."

Visit wwww.kendalmuseum.digital to find out more.