Get involved

You can become a member of our History Group for a small sum of £5 for the year, which gives you reduced fee (£1) to talks and walks. You can add £5 to pay for all the talks this year. Non-members are also very welcome. See here for details. 

Read our PRIVACY STATEMENT here

Online membership

Please note we offer online only membership for £5. This type of membership entitles the member to view recordings of the talks at home on a computer or tablet. The online member would receive the link automatically as soon as the recording is made, usually a week or so after the live talk. We record all the talks that we are allowed to by the speakers. Very occasionally a speaker does not wish to be recorded. 

Contact us by email chlhg.membership@gmail.com, or alternatively leave a note at Clements Hall.

You can of course just attend one or more of our talks. But we're also keen to attract people who might have an interest in a topic or be keen to learn new skills in exploring something relating to the history of our area.

Skills might include:

• Carrying out oral history interviews

• Taking photographs of buildings

• Tracking down old photographs

• Using the internet either at home or in a library to look at the census and other sources

• Looking at sources in the library eg trade directories for the history of the shops

• Using old maps

• Organising a display

Blog post guidelines

You may like to write a blog post for us, on a historical theme relevant to our own area that interests you – this could be a location, well-known historic figure or group, item or building. Or perhaps an aspect of every day life from past history.

Try and keep to a word limit of around 500. While the limit can be stretched, occasionally up to 1,000 words, it is less likely to be read as a blog post if it is too long, as it will put the casual reader off. We can always link to the longer version elsewhere on the website.

The aim is to try and catch a reader’s attention and make them want to read what you have to say. Give the blog posting a title that is informative but will catch the reader’s eye.

Decide what your blog post is doing – why is it there? What ‘angle’ can you give your writing? 

The blog post should summarise what might be quite a complicated story. Avoid over-detail. Remember we can link to the fuller story elsewhere on the website (in a project area for example). Make sure that the facts you include are accurate.

Put the main point in the first paragraph. This is the first thing readers see and it will make them want to read on.

Put the details in the following paragraphs. It’s a good idea to break your post into shorter paragraphs, as this makes it easier to read.

Try and scatter ‘gold coins’ in your writing if you can, ie tiny nuggets of interest which will make your readers think wow!

The blog is aimed at a general readership, so imagine you’re explaining your story to a friend or relative in straightforward terms, and try and make it lively. Sometimes it’s helpful to take a break and come back to what you’ve written with a fresh eye.

Please try and use plain English, ie active rather than passive, use a shorter word if it means the same as a longer word eg ‘use’ not ‘utilise’.

By all means include weblinks to other resources and stories. 

Send us a couple of images (more if you have them) separately, to go with the post, with a note of the caption (s) in your text, including source. Ensure we have permission to use them. For web use they don’t have to be high-resolution.

Include a short biography of yourself, a couple of sentences are sufficient.

Finally add your sources. If you are citing the works of others, make sure to reference their work.

We will be promoting your blog post on our Facebook and Twitter account, to encourage people to take a look. Twitter in particular can go far and wide. While in the main these will be local people, some visitors might be specialists in your subject area, which makes it a great opportunity for networking.

Please let us know if you would like to do more by contacting us on 01904 466086 or emailing us here.