Thank you both for your replies and helpful information.
That's an interesting point about being registered to vote and not something I would have thought of.
I have been to the archive before but it was about 5 or 6 years ago now and long before I started looking at doing my family history properly.
It sounds like they have a lot of good information up there, my biggest problem is the opening hours, it's not really geared up for people who work.
I'll have to make a list of what I want to look up then see if I can put some holidays in and get myself up there.
Thanks again for all of the help,
Michael