Walk outside into the street where you live and really take notice of your surroundings.

Houses may have been built at different times where there were once fields. Consider why. Was there a local business who needed to attract a workforce? The establishment of ICI fibres in the Crimple Valley (Crimplene), Harrogate triggered an explosion of property development in less than a decade. More recently, housing estates were created to accommodate a growing and ageing population. The breakdown of traditional family units added to the need for more social housing.

Consider your neighbours, their occupations and how they currently contribute to local society. Are some involved as a volunteers say for the church, neighbourhood watch, scouts, playgroups and other community activities such as sports clubs?

Think about what is happening now in the local, national and international arena which is impacting today on daily life. Brexit, referenda, terrorism, traffic, food banks, immigration. How are politics and legislation impacting on our lives?

Cast your mind back a few hundred years and imagine how people must have been affected by the decisions of the manorial court and the vestry together with the impact of enclosures, railways, industrialisation, poverty, poor health and high death rates.

Look at your study through the eyes of a living person and wake up those dry and dusty records. Watch them spring to life.