There are many branches of history that can be studied: economic, political or religious, for example. These are wide headings and can cover an enormous range of important topics which can often be disconnected from a person’s day-to-day life. One branch of history that can lead to a strong engagement is local history, which can be focused on a region or county, or a smaller area such as a town or village or even a street, park or sporting arena. Family history and genealogy, old newspapers, maps, diaries, letters and censuses are useful sources of data so many people feel a strong connection to this section of history and can make it come to life through a study that is of personal interest to an individual.
A local history project could look at how a town or village grew, the working lives of inhabitants of a street and how those jobs changed over the years, how building types varied over the centuries, or how a person contributed to the construction of a landmark. Every county in Britain has local history societies that promote this sort of research.
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