Some inspiration:

• What’s in a name? Place names can tell us a lot about the people who settled in an area in the past. Are you in the ‘Viking’ north east or the ‘Celtic’ south west?
• Wish you were here?! Why did people settle in your area, why did they visit, have those reasons changed? Do you have a market place or a village green? Meeting and trading places have hundreds of stories to tell.
• Where does the river run? From source to sea, how has it shaped the land, who travels on it? How has it brought people together?
• Lost links. Are there any ‘forgotten routes’ near you? Perhaps a lost Roman road, railway line, postal path or maybe there’s a street name on an old map that has changed or infilled with building over time?
• Famous faces. Thomas Cook, a pioneer of the package tourism industry, was a Leicester lad. Sarah Guppy whose inventions included an early suspension bridge design was born in Birmingham and lived in Bristol. Who is linked to your local area?
• The world on our doorstep. Look around and there are global influences everywhere. Are there some ‘Corinthian Columns’ in the local architecture – where have these designs come from? Check your local park – plants and trees that seem everyday to us now may have exotic origins!