And is it true that Mum's Nan was an aircraft mechanic..?
 
Your family history is fascinating - but not everyone knows where to start researching it. The Green Howards Museum can help. On Saturday 3 August the Museum is offering a Family History Drop-In, with resident genealogy expert, Steve Erskine. If you have or had a relative who was in British military service, here's your chance to learn more!
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Steve can show you how to understand service records, using family history research resources and deciphering official paperwork. Perhaps you’ve already started the process and have come to a dead end. Or maybe you’ve finally decided to look at those documents inthe loft? Either way, Steve can advise - and if your relative served with The Green Howards Regiment, he can even help to get you started.

There is no additional charge for this drop-in service, although you will need to pay the usual museum admission fee, which is £8, or £5 for ages 10-16, or free for under-10s, and allows unlimited return visits for a year.

greenhowards.org.uk

So... What's in this week's Lucky Dip? We've been trawling through What's On Richmond, and look what we got: Darlington Society of Arts is showing its Annual Exhibition on the walls of The Station.

This long-established (over 100 years old) society has a reputation for fostering some excellent artists in a wide variety of media: oils, acrylic, watercolour, pastel, coloured pencil, scraper board and more. And like all the exhibitions at The Station, it's a selling exhibition. So, here's a plan:

• Browse the artworks - find two or three you like.
• Head to the cafe for a latte and a slice of cake while you think it over.
• Go back for a second look... Yes, you love that one there!
• Got it! And you're soon heading home with a fabulous original artwork for your living room.

​And (big news) the Station Gallery is now a member of the wonderful OwnArt scheme - so you can choose a piece of modern, original art and pay for it over 10 months. It's a great way to support artists and benefit yourself.

'FAQsheet' is a mashup of 'Factsheet' and 'FAQ', or 'Frequently Asked Questions'. Our FAQsheets are two-sided A4-sized leaflets, which we print off for visitors on demand, or which you yourself can print at home. And the reason we're mentioning them now is that two of them featured in this News area recently, and they got a lot of online hits.

Here they are:

• Activities for children up to 11 in and around Richmond - with wet-weather and cafe info, so you can keep the little monsters occupied, even on a rainy day!
• Circular drives from Richmond - five beautiful outings of 35 to 70 miles in the lovely Yorkshire Dales and Teesdale.
• Dog-friendly Richmond - pubs, cafes, attractions and walks where your pooch will be welcome. Don't forget to visit our 'InfoPod' in the Market Hall for a gravy bone treat!
• Accessible Richmond - if you are mobility-impaired, or a helper, you'll find all kinds of pointers in here to accessible businesses, walks, wheelchair loans and more.

Take a look. Print off a FAXsheet to bring with you!