Hi Jeremy,
It wouldn’t be possible to process such a large volume of unrecorded VS observations without the tenacious commitment of these Section members. I’m aware of cases where valuable observations have been lost after members passed away, e.g. by a house clearance or by wiping their computer drives. Thankfully, Melvyn’s family gave us full access to his extensive hoard.
As I mentioned in VSS Circular 180, the BAA Memoirs contain some useful VS data, but perhaps like in the English Mechanic not all salient information is to hand. Yes, they are certainly worthwhile and rewarding projects to search for old observations and add them to the Association’s archives and databases.
I’ve promised Roger I’ll write an update for the December VSS Circular.
Alex.