When finding out #AllAboutThatPlace a great place to learn are local history and family history societies. Every one is different and it depends entirely on how proactive the members are. I can only speak for the ones I know about.

Ryedale Family History Group is a small but very active Society. We welcome members with ancestors in our parts of North Yorkshire and members, like myself, who just live here but want to learn how to research or to share our discoveries and frustrations. All others are welcome too. Many join after a research question has been posed and help given or reassurance that everything possible has been covered.

I sometimes wonder how the group find time to actually do any of their own family history – On Mondays we have a Zoom meeting led by member Michele in Canada who always talks for about 20 minutes on a topic of interest, followed by chat. These “Mondays with Michele” are available to all on YouTube as Genealogy:TiesToThePast. e.g. I found the one on Children’s homes opened my eyes to how much I was missing on Peter Higginbotham’s great website, another I showed me how to create an index in word documents (for writing up family history and other applications!) and several help you explore different archives or sources.

Wednesdays once a month is the lecture, usually on Zoom at present, sometimes in person at Hovingham or around the area. A good mix of local and national or internationally renowned speakers. The other Wednesdays there is a DNA discussion (On Zoom) with plenty of help available. Thursday mornings are the time to bring general questions and chat, both at the research room in Hovingham and online. Discussions are wide ranging but nearly always involves some genealogy, sharing of relevant books and perhaps a random topic such as – which end you peel a banana! The group has a huge breadth and depth of knowledge, including those with one-name studies, and go to great lengths to help each other. Meanwhile others are painstakingly photographing and recording memorial inscriptions locally and so on.

Devon Family History Society is a large Society with a very active program of talks, several every month, many on Zoom. Friendly informal chats after the meetings online often continue into the night! Devon has a large number of Parishes and those with expertise or questions about those places are encouraged to meet online – All areas, divided into groups of adjacent parishes, meet at least once in the year, for a general chat and question session. Regular ‘brick wall’ sessions are included in the program too, where anyone is able to submit a case for expert advice and discussion. With extensive use of Zoom, members attend from all over the world. Tree House is very active with research and scanning records.

Membership fees and benefits vary. Increasingly societies will make special arrangements for under 21s. Societies usually offer their electronic journal in basic membership. Many have members-only access to local records online. See your local society website for details. Basic membership for Ryedale FHG or Devon FHS is just £12 for the year.

Finally the British Association for Local History The national charity which promotes local history. In addition to regular talks (reduced rate for members) there are a good selection of 10 minute talks on the website covering many aspects of local history. They have a wide range of their activities, but I am not going to tell you because…

Your Challenge for today – check out BALH and a group local to you!