What should we do with our brightest and best? Neal Watkin and Johannes Ahrenfelt suggest an enquiry for a very high ability Year 8 group which is both challenging and genuinely historical. The enquiry itself has cross-curricular elements within its historical framework: it draws on geography, sociology and citizenship. This should not distract us from its focus, which is on the significance of heritage in planning for the future. This is an extremely difficult historical concept. The enthusiasm and ease with which Watkin and Ahrenfelt's students address it can be attributed to the precise and focused way in which they have designed their enquiry. This article provides both a model for "Gifted and Talented" teaching and a rationale for teaching about local heritage in Key Stage Three: why "does" the past matter? [A combined list of references and notes is provided.]