At the launch of the street histories the other day we discovered a regrettable typo on a number of the publications. Very embarrassingly, the central historical area of Brighton known as the North Laine had become the North Lane! This occurred because the covers of the histories were printed as graphics files, hence there was no spell check and our wonderful designer, who is Swiss, was not familiar enough with local history to pick up on the error!
Now this is far from a small matter, it took a great deal of effort to reintroduce the historical name for the area and ensuring correct usage remains a significant issue.
One local emailed us to complain, saying:
REALLY?? I thought MHMS was interested in accurate local history. Can this really have gone out to residents and traders around the North Laine area? I am gobsmacked! . . . I am really saddened by this, . . . we are constantly campaigning to have our area referred to by the correct name and spelling. Now the MHMS project is counteracting all our efforts!
Of course, we too ARE very concerned to ensure that the name is correctly applied and as soon as we discovered the problem we pulped the covers and started again. So, if you retain one of the launch copies keep it safe, one day it might be a collectors item!
Seriously though, apologies to all North Laineites!
