PEOPLE curious about those who previously lived in their village have formed a new society to explore local history.

The Middleton Tyas History Group plans to record changes happening now as well as looking into the past.

Founder member Norman Mahaffy said: “It’s 30 years since the late Arabella Kurdi wrote her history of Middleton Tyas and since then the village has seen many changes.”

The society hopes to provide a permanent digital archive on the village website – middletontyas.org.uk - preserving a record of pictures and documents which might otherwise be lost or destroyed.

Although the County Records Office has a wealth of information on the village, the society hopes to find more about the people of the village and the lives they lead.

“We are particularly interested in old photos and information of village people and events on the edge of living memory,” said Mr Mahaffy.

Any documents would be copied and returned to the owners.

The next meeting of the society is on July 3 at the Memorial Hall in Middleton Tyas, near Richmond. All welcome. Anyone with pictures or documents to share could contact Norman Mahaffy on nwm17@btinternet.com