In December 2024 Craig Lambert (Principal Investigator) and John McAleer (Co-Investigator) were honoured to give the 2024 Dymond Lecture to members of the British Association for Local History (BALH). Our lecture discussed aspects of our project and the free-to-access resources we will produce. The talk focused on the shipping, trade and maritime communities of Suffolk, Kent, Hampshire, and Dorset, c.1565-c.1650. The talk demonstrated how our project can enrich our understanding of England’s maritime history. Over 250 people attended the talk, and we are grateful to the BALH for asking us to contribute to this year’s lecture and for facilitating the important questions from the audience. For more information, please follow this link: https://www.balh.org.uk/dymond2024 . For more information on the BALH please follow this link: https://www.balh.org.uk/ .