Photos of 1900s Herefordshire life discovered hidden in cupboard

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-hereford-worcester-61425923

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About 900 glass plate negatives were found in the cupboard and showed life in rural Herefordshire

Photographs of life in Herefordshire in the early 20th Century have gone on display after being found hidden behind wallpaper.

Richard Jenkins rode around the Golden Valley area of the county taking pictures of weddings, births and celebrations.

Hundreds of his glass plate negatives were found by his family in a cupboard which had been covered with wallpaper.

An exhibition of the photos has gone on display in Hereford.

Mr Jenkins, who was born in 1890 in Newton, on the Herefordshire border with Wales, wanted to be an engineer, his daughter said.

But he had to take over the family farm and instead channelled his passion into photography.

Richard Jenkins took the photographs at weddings, funerals, births and other celebrations

The photos show life around the Golden Valley area of Herefordshire

His daughter Sylvia Jenkins-Bigglestone said her father had used to travel around the area on his motorcycle and sidecar.

"I do not know how he would have reacted, if he felt that he would be as well known as this," she added.

Mr Jenkins' daughter Sylvia Jenkins-Bigglestone said she never thought her father "would be as notorious as he is now"

After being discovered, the collection of about 900 photographs was scanned and the plates and photographs are now part of the Herefordshire Archives Collection.

The exhibition is being held at All Saints Church, Hereford, until 2 July.

"I would never have thought daddy would be as notorious as he is now and people are so interested in his work," Mrs Jenkins-Bigglestone said.

Herefordshire Archives Collection now has the plates and photographs in its collection

An exhibition is being held at All Saints Church, Hereford, until 2 July

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