Pat Hoodless answers questions about history and written sources.

Mary Mills answers questions about accessing archive sources. Please note: this article dates from 2003 and some of the sources and services referenced may no longer be available.

Anna Disney and Peter Hammond answer questions about historical maps.

Working on written sources is fundamental to historical learning. A document, inscription or sign brings children directly into contact with the past in much the same way as an artefact. It is real and conveys information directly in the words of past peoples. Whether an ancient family Bible with its...

This article focuses on extracts from the mid nineteenth and provides information on the wages and living standards of agricultural labourers. In the article Sue Berry suggests numerous ways in which these extracts can be used in lessons at Key Stage 1 and 2.

There is a huge range of moving image material that provides, or purports to provide, direct documentary coverage of many historical events over the last 105 years. You can access much that is suitable for primary children from television and the video store, but there are also film archives across...

Jill Grey lived in Hitchin and over a period of 25 years, collected over 35,000 items. A11 of the material relates to the history of education and social history of childhood. I am still in the process of cataloguing the collection and it is a truly wonderful resource.

Outbreaks of the plague were common in the 16th century and the north of England was badly affected in the 1590s. It is believed that the plague arrived in Cumberland from Newcastle about Michaelmas 1597 and continued for over a year. The only places for which documentation exists are the...

Logbooks can be described as the diary of the headmaster. The contents can vary in interest depending on how diligent the headmaster was at recording events. Some merely record the delivery of coals, the attendance at the school or the visitors to the school. However some include a good deal...