West Yorkshire Archive Service

I recently went to Wakefield to work with West Yorkshire Archive Service who were sprucing up their promo images.  I felt I was in Aladdin's cave.  I love old books, documents and maps, and this place (as you would expect), is full to the brim with them! There seems to be a recent surge in people wanting to discover more information about their ancestors, filling out the gaps in their family trees.  In fact, WYAS were visited by Sir Patrick Stewart when he was researching his ancestors in the programme 'Who Do You Think You Are?'

People can donate their own family documents and records.  It felt strange looking at a soldier's notebook, where he had mapped out in pencil drawings, the tactics for their next attacks and defences. Someone had donated their diaries written in the 80's (Adrian Mole sprang to mind).  These are recent in comparison to some documents that date back to the 12th century. 

So, if you're doing a bit of research about your family, or maybe a full scale 'Who Do You Think You Are?' investigation, I'd recommend giving the WYAS a visit!