DELVING into the dark secrets of your family history has been an increasingly popular pastime in recent years.

And it is a hobby that has been made much easier for Bewdley folk thanks to the work of a town group that has just celebrated its 21st birthday.

Bewdley Historical Research Group was formed in 1980 and has since, thanks to much painstaking research, published several volumes dealing with the town's social and commercial past.

Angela Purcell, who was a founder member along with her husband Charles, said: "A previous group disbanded in 1972 and we felt there was so much more to explore."

About 30 people were involved in setting up the group, whose membership today stands at 17.

They started out researching the history of High Street properties as Birmingham University Extra Mural Department and began work on transcribing wills and inventories from Bewdley's "Golden Age", 1660 to 1760, at Hereford Record Office and London's Public Record Office.

The group, whose members are mostly retired, now meets on Monday evenings at the Purcells' Ironside Close home.

"It is a working meeting, but members also see it as a social evening with other like-minded people," Mrs Purcell explained.

They also staff the Local History Room on Wednesday mornings at Bewdley Museum in Load Street, offering people the chance to look into the history of their family or their homes.

"We have documents dating back to the 16th century, including old wills and parish registers," Mrs Purcell said.

"This sort of thing has become more and more popular - people don't mind skeletons in the cupboard any more, they get quite excited if they find out some deep dark secret!

"But a lot of people don't realise how much hard work goes into it - we can't just press a button."

Group research has also extended to cover Wribbenhall, Dowles and Ribbesford, with projects including transcribing census returns from the 19th century and collecting billheads and sale particulars from business.

Two books of photographs have been produced, while an ongoing project is a series of short publications on town trades, including leather, cap-making, pewter, brass and textiles.

Mrs Purcell feels the Bewdley of today is "not the hive of activity" it once was.

But she added: "Things like the flooding and Bewdley Festival have seen a lot of people pull together recently."

The group can be contacted on 01299 403582.