Robert Longden Archive

Welcome to my great, great-Grandfather’s photography archive, featuring historic inland waterways scenes.
I hope you enjoy venturing through the archive… – Kasra Pochin

When Robert Longden (1879–1957) was still very young his family moved to Newark, New Jersey. The family soon returned and settled in Coventry, then a thriving industrial city. He later worked at Alfred Herbert Limited, which manufactured and distributed machine tools and was one of the largest employers in Coventry.

Robert was a camera enthusiast and a self-taught photographer. Family legend has it that he set up his darkroom in the cupboard under the stairs, making clever use of the restricted space for the practical needs of developing and printing his film.

He produced prints for competitions and transferred his images onto glass positive ‘magic lantern’ slides, a robust format which has allowed the images to survive so long.

Longden became president of the Coventry Photographic Society, and was awarded several silver medals in annual competitions. Today, his archive is considered by the Waterways Trust and canal historians to be of unique social and historical importance.
– Stephen Pochin, Curator