Local and family history, nostalgia

Cornwall has a long and fascinating history of ghost stories, from ghostly ships seen traversing the coastline, phantom smugglers and pirates to grisly murders and lonely suicides.

Macclesfield Forest had long been a favourite hunting ground of royalty.

Recognised as a royal county in 1957, Berkshire is renowned for its monarchical splendour, with Windsor Castle forming the backdrop to many historic ceremonial events and occasions, but what about the other highlights of this southern shire?

Manchester has always had the ability to reinvent itself.

In medieval Edinburgh the dead were buried in the city's churchyards, with internment in the church reserved for the wealthy, but in the post-Reformation years both rich and poor were buried in the grounds of the churches.

Although little is recorded of its earlier history, Salford is a city of great antiquity.

The Black Country in the West Midlands currently covers the four metropolitan boroughs of Dudley, Wolverhampton, Walsall and Sandwell.

Edinburgh has a literary tradition like no other.

Join author Anthony Poulton-Smith on a ghostly tour of the county of Northamptonshire.

This revised edition of Colchester History Tour includes new illustrations of Colchester's landmarks from Roman times to the present day.

Although it occupies just 45 square miles, Jersey is the largest of the Channel Islands, and has a fascinating history that has links to both Britain and France.

Salford is often seen as the smaller twin of Manchester, its neighbour across the River Irwell.

The Cotswold Hills run in a large swathe through south central England, chiefly in Gloucestershire and Oxfordshire, but also parts of Somerset, Wiltshire, Warwickshire and Worcestershire.

Although within close proximity to London, the county of Surrey is blessed with green open spaces, including the North Downs, the Weald and the Surrey Hills, an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

Medieval King's Lynn (Bishop's Lynn before 1537) was a premier English port, a position it retained until the Industrial Revolution.

The Epsom hospital cluster was the largest group of psychiatric hospitals in Europe - and possibly the world.

The history of the Somerset town of Yeovil goes back to the Middle Ages.

The Shropshire market town of Shrewsbury, lying on the River Severn, was an important centre of the wool trade in medieval England and its prosperity continued up until the Industrial Revolution, with a wealth of ancient and historical buildings still standing in the town centre.

Mention Staffordshire to most people and they immediately think of a county dominated by heavy industry.

Swansea's massive expansion during the Industrial Revolution and its aftermath can still be seen today.

In this comprehensively illustrated guide, Harpenden History Tour takes the reader on a nostalgic journey around this quintessential country village in days gone by, coupled with a useful location map showing the various places of historical interest, highlighting the many changes that have taken place over the last 100 years.

Derby History Tour offers a fascinating insight into the history of this city in the East Midlands.

Woking History Tour offers a fascinating insight into the history of this town in Surrey.

Shrewsbury, Shropshire's county town, has been an important trading and administrative centre since medieval times because of its position on the River Severn close to the Welsh border.

Set in an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and at the mouth of the River Exe, Exmouth is one of the largest seaside towns in Devon and is regarded as the county's oldest holiday resort.

Situated halfway along the England-Wales border, Ludlow in Shropshire was described by Sir John Betjeman as 'probably the loveliest town in England'.

Located in the south-east of Shropshire, Bridgnorth is divided into High Town and Low Town on opposite banks of the River Severn.

Sussex is a mostly rural county, with rolling hills in the South Downs National Park, comprising ancient farmland of patchwork fields with sheep grazing the hillside.

Woking is a mixture of the very old and very new.

Lying 7 miles south-east of Manchester, the town of Stockport can trace its history back to the foundation of a castle in the area in the late twelfth century and the granting of a borough charter around 1220.

The Yorkshire fishing town of Whitby, close to the spectacular scenery of the North York Moors, has attracted visitors for centuries.

The towns and villages west of Birmingham, around Dudley, Wolverhampton, Sandwell and Wallsall, became known as the Black Country during the Industrial Revolution due to the intense industrialisation of the area, particularly coal mining and ironworking.

High Wycombe is often looked upon as the archetypal, provincial town - a suburban satellite of London with little history of note.

The Lancashire market town of Preston boomed during the Industrial Revolution to become a major textile manufacturing centre.

Hemmed in by river, downland and sea, the archaeology of Kent has always had a reputation for uniqueness.

In the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries Jarrow was a thriving shipbuilding town.

The Somerset town of Bridgwater was an important port on the River Parrett in the Middle Ages, linked inland during the Industrial Revolution with the construction of the Bridgwater and Taunton Canal.

From its heyday in the nineteenth century as a major centre of wire making, textiles, chemical production and brewing through to its Second World War role as the largest US Army Air Force base in Europe and subsequent reinvention as a new town in the late 1960s, Warrington is now the largest town in Cheshire, with a proud heritage and distinctive identity.

London's Industrial Past gives the reader an opportunity to read about a selection of factories that were once scattered across the city.

Over the last few years Bristol has received many accolades such as the UK's 'happiest city', 'most desirable location to live', 'kindest and most selfless people', and 'most artistic city'.

The city of Coventry has a rich and varied history.

The north Wales seaside resort of Llandudno developed in the 1850s from a scatter of small settlements on the slopes of the Great Orme.

The Midland main line from London St Pancras to the north of England is one of Britain's most important trunk routes.

The medieval Suffolk market town of Bungay on the River Waveney was dominated by its castle, owned by the Bigod family, the Earls of Norfolk, and its Benedictine priory.

Warwickshire is a county steeped in the supernatural, as befits the county of Shakespeare and the many ghosts and spirits that he conjured up in his works.

Coal and iron making first brought railways to what is now called South Yorkshire.

Unlike many other small villages in the UK, Lesmahagow has many claims to fame because of its location and geological heritage and due to many of its sometime residents having taken up influential roles in the history of the nation.

Manchester and Salford boast an extraordinary historical legacy.

Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland, has much to celebrate.

Often regarded as a quiet holiday county, in fact Dorset has many aviation connections.