Local history society directory

Local history society directory

Find a local history organisation near you or to support your research project.

Local history resource directory

Local history resource directory

Explore our Resource Directory — a curated collection of archives, maps, publications, and specialist websites to support and inspire your local history research.

Become a member

Become a member

Join a national network of local historians and societies — with publications, support, increased visibility, and member benefits including discounts and dedicated insurance.

Quarterly publications

Quarterly publications

The Local Historian, our academic journal, was first produced in 1952 and is considered one of the foremost local history publications. It is published four times a year in conjunction with Local History News.

Our educational work

Our educational work

BALH aims to encourage interest and enthusiasm for local history amongst learners of all ages and to share and promote best practice, knowledge and skills.

Featured member society

Featured member society

BALH member societies may now add details of their work to our website, which will be highlighted here. Contact us for further details

Why BALH?

Nick Barratt Historian and Author

Supporting your academic research

There is an increasing interest in local history as a key element of academic studies – not just the content that has been published by local historians over the decades as a key research resource, but also in co-produced projects. Grant-awarding bodies such as the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) have placed an increasing emphasis on collaborations and partnerships when considering the award of research funding, and BALH provides the perfect platform for academic researchers to locate key groups and ongoing activity.

Nick Barratt, Historian and Author

Meet the team

Jack Southern Trustee

Jack Southern

Jack has a deep interest in the relationship between people, places, and local history, shaped by his upbringing on the Fylde coast. He studied local and regional history at Lancaster University before teaching in Hong Kong, later returning to complete postgraduate research at the University of Central Lancashire, focusing on communities and industrial decline in Lancastrian cotton towns. He collaborates with local history groups, artists, and the Lancashire Local History Federation to explore new ways of communicating history. Now a Public History and Heritage lecturer at UCLan, he is passionate about outreach and engaging wider audiences with local history.

Jack Southern, Trustee

From our archives

The Amateur Historian Volume 3 Number 4 Summer 1957

Old people as sources of history

Dopson, Laurence

pp 150-152

An early venture into the realms of oral history. The article provides an introduction to the process of researching local history through oral evidence and makes various suggestions for evaluating the information collected.

The Amateur Historian Volume 3 Number 4 Summer 1957

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