Brighton and Hove residents will be given the chance later this month to learn how to trace their family tree or join a Napoleonic re-enactment society.

The special history day, sponsored by BBC Southern Counties Radio and backed by The Argus, at Hove Town Hall on June 16 will bring together 30 groups with an interest in the past.

Exhibitors include West Sussex records office, Sussex Family History Group, English Heritage, the 42nd Highland Regiment and Hastings Shipwreck Centre. Talks will be given by representatives from organisations including the Booth Museum of Natural History in Brighton, Brighton University's South East Film and Video Archives and Brighton and Hove Libraries and Museum.

Jackie Blackwell, from Queenspark Books, a community publisher and writing organisation in Grand Parade, Brighton, will be talking about a recent book called Far Cry From A White Apron, written by two local brothers, Lesley and Michael Wilson.

The book tells how Lesley, who used to work in Sainsbury's in Lewes Road, became a Bevin Boy during the Second World War when he was sent down the mines in Wales rather than going to fight in the war after the direction of minister for labour Ernest Bevin.

Ms Blackwell will also talk about three books on tape which focus on the West Pier. One, Oh What A Lovely Pier, tells the story of Sixties waitress Daphne Mitchell. Another, Deck Hand West Pier, tells the tale of Seventies deck hand Arthur Thickett. A third, The Crowd Roars, focuses on Ron Cunningham, an escapologist who used to float on a bed of nails near the West Pier.

Fred Gray, a member of the National Pier Society and a lecturer at Sussex University, will talk about the piers in Brighton, Eastbourne, Hastings and Bognor.

He said: "Sussex has more piers than most other regions and I will be talking about how they have evolved from holding concerts to housing ice skating rinks and rifle ranges."

Mr Gray will also talk about the former Chain Pier in Brighton which blew down in a gale in 1896.

Meanwhile, Robert Jeeves, who runs a postcard shop downstairs from Coastal Stamp Auctions in Queen's Road, Brighton, will be displaying a collection of old postcards for sale.

He said: "It wasn't until about 1894 that postcards became popular. Initially you had to write your message on the front and the address on the back but the law was changed in 1903 and from then messages could be written on the back."

Mr Jeeves, who has collected 8,000 to 9,000 old postcards of Brighton during the last 20 years, added: "There were always a lot of photographers in Brighton who would go round photographing streets and selling them to people who lived there."