Films spanning 150 years of Lincolnshire’s engineering history have been preserved for posterity. The Ruston Hornsby (Siemens) Archive contains nationally significant material revealing the central role played by Lincolnshire companies in England’s industrial heyday during the 19th and 20th centuries. Around 150 cine film reels, mainly 16mm and 35mm film, including footage showing the development of the caterpillar tracks used on the world’s first battlefield tanks during World War I, have been moved to the Media Archive for Central England (MACE) based at the University of Lincoln.

Professor David Sleight, Dean of Public Engagement at the University of Lincoln, and former Head of the LSM, said: “We pay tribute to those who carefully stored these records away over many years. I am so pleased that after a concerted effort by a team of colleagues at Siemens, Lincolnshire County Council and the University of Lincoln we have found a safe and protected new home. We already know so many retired engineering workers who are keen to help, their collective memories will be vital to catalogue this archive before it is too late!”