WEBVTT 00:00:05.990 --> 00:00:09.470 Hello and welcome to Family Tree Talk, your favourite 00:00:09.470 --> 00:00:11.830 family history podcast, as Nathan says, and I 00:00:11.830 --> 00:00:14.169 hope it is as well. My name's Helen Tovey, I'm 00:00:14.169 --> 00:00:16.629 editor of Family Tree and with me is... Nathan 00:00:16.629 --> 00:00:21.929 Ward, hello there. Hi Nathan. Hiya Helen. You've 00:00:21.929 --> 00:00:26.570 been busy, haven't you? Er, not necessarily busy, 00:00:26.750 --> 00:00:29.570 but I've been making discoveries. Well, that 00:00:29.570 --> 00:00:32.079 counts as the same thing in my book. Okay, cool. 00:00:32.259 --> 00:00:37.520 So last time we spoke, I, well, what was I doing? 00:00:37.619 --> 00:00:41.939 I was dabbling in the 1841, wasn't I? So I'd 00:00:41.939 --> 00:00:44.340 managed to get a few people on there and I was 00:00:44.340 --> 00:00:47.039 going to go back and add the other people in 00:00:47.039 --> 00:00:50.640 that household or link them to the 1841 and see 00:00:50.640 --> 00:00:53.939 where that took me. Did I do that? Did I do it? 00:00:54.060 --> 00:00:56.619 I might have done a little bit of that. And it 00:00:56.619 --> 00:00:58.960 was straightforward, it was good. So Ruth Ann 00:00:58.960 --> 00:01:01.780 Ward got on there and then a couple of her relations 00:01:01.780 --> 00:01:06.319 got on there, William Oliver. And that was okay, 00:01:06.400 --> 00:01:08.780 but I didn't actually take my research any further 00:01:08.780 --> 00:01:13.739 on this front because following up from a couple 00:01:13.739 --> 00:01:17.040 of weeks ago, we talked about my grandad and 00:01:17.040 --> 00:01:20.400 I said he didn't go to war and you were like, 00:01:20.459 --> 00:01:22.280 he's got to have gone to war, blah, blah, blah. 00:01:22.420 --> 00:01:25.799 He has to, it'd be the right age. So that sent 00:01:25.799 --> 00:01:28.620 me off talking to my mum, my auntie and my uncle, 00:01:28.760 --> 00:01:31.140 asking what he did in the war. I was like, did 00:01:31.140 --> 00:01:33.340 he go to war? What did he do? And then they're 00:01:33.340 --> 00:01:35.560 like, oh, no, he didn't go to war. And they said, 00:01:35.620 --> 00:01:36.900 oh, he might have been in the home front, but 00:01:36.900 --> 00:01:41.159 we can't remember. But he actually, I'm very 00:01:41.159 --> 00:01:43.579 excited about this. I don't know how the reveal 00:01:43.579 --> 00:01:47.060 should go. But anyway, he works for English Electric. 00:01:47.359 --> 00:01:49.959 You know, he was an electrician. He worked for 00:01:49.959 --> 00:01:53.060 English Electric. And he was actually helping 00:01:53.060 --> 00:01:55.560 develop the aeroplane, the English Electric Lightning. 00:01:56.079 --> 00:01:59.920 Wow. So he didn't go to war because he was busy 00:01:59.920 --> 00:02:02.000 making the next generation of fighter planes. 00:02:03.019 --> 00:02:05.939 Amazing. So I have aeroplanes now in my family. 00:02:06.000 --> 00:02:11.659 It might not be RAF, but it's cool. It's very, 00:02:11.740 --> 00:02:14.520 very cool. Yeah. Your wish has come true. You've 00:02:14.520 --> 00:02:18.080 wanted a kind of aeroplane connection for a while, 00:02:18.139 --> 00:02:20.740 haven't you? I really have. You've got one. I 00:02:20.740 --> 00:02:23.319 was so giddy when I found out. I literally have 00:02:23.319 --> 00:02:25.479 been like, I'm going to go buy an Airfix model 00:02:25.479 --> 00:02:27.259 of this aeroplane and I'm going to get a t -shirt 00:02:27.259 --> 00:02:29.719 with it on because my grandad built that. I think 00:02:29.719 --> 00:02:31.419 you definitely should do both those things. So 00:02:31.419 --> 00:02:32.860 tell me a bit more then, because I don't even 00:02:32.860 --> 00:02:35.000 know what plane or anything you're talking about. 00:02:35.080 --> 00:02:37.120 What have you managed to find out? Right, so 00:02:37.120 --> 00:02:39.419 obviously English Electric was this company that 00:02:39.419 --> 00:02:41.520 did electrical stuff, but they also built a lot 00:02:41.520 --> 00:02:45.120 of car things and aeroplanes. And he was involved 00:02:45.120 --> 00:02:47.439 in the development of the English Electric Lightning, 00:02:47.719 --> 00:02:50.699 which it was a British fighter plane. And it 00:02:50.699 --> 00:02:53.699 actually didn't go into service until the 1960s. 00:02:54.419 --> 00:02:56.180 But they were developing it during World War 00:02:56.180 --> 00:02:58.300 II. I think its first flight or something was 00:02:58.300 --> 00:03:01.060 like 1948 or something like that. I read somewhere. 00:03:02.000 --> 00:03:04.340 Oh, the first flight was 1954. I've just seen. 00:03:04.419 --> 00:03:06.960 But it was in development whilst World War II 00:03:06.960 --> 00:03:12.259 was going on. And I think it was the first. I 00:03:12.259 --> 00:03:14.120 better be careful what I say now because I'm 00:03:14.120 --> 00:03:15.680 going to get this wrong. Anyway, it could get 00:03:15.680 --> 00:03:18.180 to Mach 2. So it was a very, very fast plane. 00:03:18.520 --> 00:03:21.539 It was like the next level. That's extremely 00:03:21.539 --> 00:03:23.919 cool, though, that your grandpa was involved 00:03:23.919 --> 00:03:28.199 in this. It's really cool. Did you know where 00:03:28.199 --> 00:03:32.300 the premises were, where kind of the airfield 00:03:32.300 --> 00:03:35.340 or the factory or all of that, where that was? 00:03:36.000 --> 00:03:38.360 You're such a historian, Helen. I got utterly 00:03:38.360 --> 00:03:40.419 lost in the fact that it was an aeroplane and 00:03:40.419 --> 00:03:42.360 then just wanted to go buy lots of stuff related 00:03:42.360 --> 00:03:44.319 to the aeroplane. Well, I think your shopping 00:03:44.319 --> 00:03:46.599 list of Airfix model and T -shirt, I love it. 00:03:46.620 --> 00:03:48.939 You've got to do that. But then I think also 00:03:48.939 --> 00:03:51.620 if we could potentially find out where this company 00:03:51.620 --> 00:03:56.639 was operational back in the 1950s, then you'd 00:03:56.639 --> 00:03:58.800 be able to find an old map, find out where it 00:03:58.800 --> 00:03:59.979 was, and then you'd be able to take yourself 00:03:59.979 --> 00:04:02.560 off on a jolly to go and actually see the landscape 00:04:02.560 --> 00:04:05.620 today and imagine it all. Yeah, and I don't think 00:04:05.620 --> 00:04:08.560 there was an airfield where he was based because, 00:04:08.659 --> 00:04:12.840 again, surprisingly, it was local. And so I think 00:04:12.840 --> 00:04:17.060 he worked in Farsley. And oddly, every year in 00:04:17.060 --> 00:04:18.759 Farsley, they have this little festival where 00:04:18.759 --> 00:04:21.160 they bring out loads of vintage cars, loads of 00:04:21.160 --> 00:04:23.139 really cool cars, and there's often lots of James 00:04:23.139 --> 00:04:25.379 Bond -related stuff there as well because I love 00:04:25.379 --> 00:04:28.279 that stuff. So I've been to it a few times, but 00:04:28.279 --> 00:04:32.300 it turns out that English Electric... worked 00:04:32.300 --> 00:04:34.379 on all these cars and that's why they have this 00:04:34.379 --> 00:04:36.180 festival to like celebrate the fact that this 00:04:36.180 --> 00:04:39.319 is where they came from I've been to it a couple 00:04:39.319 --> 00:04:41.240 of times didn't even know it was about that I 00:04:41.240 --> 00:04:43.300 just thought it was a James Bond show whatever 00:04:43.300 --> 00:04:47.079 so yeah very cool so the next time you go to 00:04:47.079 --> 00:04:48.959 that little festival it's going to mean so much 00:04:48.959 --> 00:04:51.120 more to you isn't it yeah and I'll be wearing 00:04:51.120 --> 00:04:53.259 my t -shirt with the lightning on it and you'll 00:04:53.259 --> 00:04:55.879 be telling absolutely anybody who will stand 00:04:55.879 --> 00:04:58.519 still for two seconds all about it won't you 00:04:58.519 --> 00:05:01.629 yeah definitely You see this, my grandad made 00:05:01.629 --> 00:05:04.870 that. Yes, yes. That's very exciting progress. 00:05:06.009 --> 00:05:08.009 So all your wishes hang on true as well. You've 00:05:08.009 --> 00:05:11.089 got colour, haven't you? And got you more interest, 00:05:11.170 --> 00:05:12.589 not just names and dates. You've got a whole 00:05:12.589 --> 00:05:15.069 story there to investigate. Yeah, flavour and 00:05:15.069 --> 00:05:17.050 texture and stuff. And unfortunately, I've not 00:05:17.050 --> 00:05:19.790 actually been back to my mum's little family 00:05:19.790 --> 00:05:24.209 history chest. But there is definitely some guides 00:05:24.209 --> 00:05:26.750 and manuals in there, like English electric ones. 00:05:26.829 --> 00:05:28.769 So now I'm suddenly going to be like... Is this 00:05:28.769 --> 00:05:31.709 aeroplane related? It probably isn't. I imagine 00:05:31.709 --> 00:05:33.750 it'll all have been top secret at the time, but 00:05:33.750 --> 00:05:36.329 I'm intrigued to look and see what's in there. 00:05:37.209 --> 00:05:38.910 But it's just awesome. It was quite good. And 00:05:38.910 --> 00:05:41.889 then, like, me doing that, then had my auntie, 00:05:41.889 --> 00:05:44.730 uncle and my mum lost in conversation about various 00:05:44.730 --> 00:05:46.430 bits and bats from the past that they'd forgotten 00:05:46.430 --> 00:05:48.569 and everybody sort of got really excited about 00:05:48.569 --> 00:05:50.389 it. It was quite cool to see. Brilliant, yeah. 00:05:50.910 --> 00:05:54.209 Yeah. And also, because you're artistic, you'd 00:05:54.209 --> 00:05:57.410 probably be... find if you could get blueprints 00:05:57.410 --> 00:06:01.350 of the plane that's just such a so visual and 00:06:01.350 --> 00:06:04.629 interesting aren't they well that's one of the 00:06:04.629 --> 00:06:06.709 t -shirts I've seen it's like is it yeah it's 00:06:06.709 --> 00:06:09.790 like a schematic here's your type thing yeah 00:06:09.790 --> 00:06:13.509 and it looks really cool so yep I'll be having 00:06:13.509 --> 00:06:16.470 some of that but then during the course of this 00:06:16.470 --> 00:06:19.449 conversation the Concorde story came up again 00:06:20.330 --> 00:06:23.750 So it's been hell fast that there's someone involved 00:06:23.750 --> 00:06:26.850 with the Concorde and it's not my granddad. My 00:06:26.850 --> 00:06:28.910 mum says it's my Uncle Alan and I don't even 00:06:28.910 --> 00:06:31.129 know who, not my Uncle Alan, her Uncle Alan. 00:06:32.110 --> 00:06:34.850 I don't even know who that is. So that'll be 00:06:34.850 --> 00:06:38.410 my next task for my aeroplane development program. 00:06:38.610 --> 00:06:42.449 I love it. I love it. I literally have had to 00:06:42.449 --> 00:06:44.430 fight the urge to tell you this before the podcast. 00:06:44.629 --> 00:06:46.050 Like anytime I've seen you, I'm like, I want 00:06:46.050 --> 00:06:49.589 to say something about the aeroplane. Yeah. It's 00:06:49.589 --> 00:06:53.430 like having this. Oh, it's very, very good. You 00:06:53.430 --> 00:06:56.029 start a whole project on it. So it's, do you 00:06:56.029 --> 00:06:57.410 sometimes find this, you're doing your family 00:06:57.410 --> 00:06:59.569 history, like lots of the stuff that you do can 00:06:59.569 --> 00:07:03.050 just get attached to the tree and it's general 00:07:03.050 --> 00:07:06.449 kind of the leaves and branches of the tree and 00:07:06.449 --> 00:07:08.430 it's building the tree. And then sometimes you 00:07:08.430 --> 00:07:11.110 have to go, this is a project and it needs its 00:07:11.110 --> 00:07:14.790 own new folder and it needs lots of in -depth 00:07:14.790 --> 00:07:18.800 stuff getting stashed. in the project folder. 00:07:19.420 --> 00:07:21.319 I mean, it's getting that way now, isn't it? 00:07:21.339 --> 00:07:24.819 Like this aeroplane I'm now obsessed with. I've 00:07:24.819 --> 00:07:26.860 seen it before. I've seen it loads of times as 00:07:26.860 --> 00:07:29.180 well, but never been that interested in it. And 00:07:29.180 --> 00:07:32.379 now I'm like, oh yeah. So I could just have a 00:07:32.379 --> 00:07:34.339 whole little project. It's like being at school 00:07:34.339 --> 00:07:36.879 again, a little history project about this aeroplane 00:07:36.879 --> 00:07:39.439 and where it came from. But then if I can tie 00:07:39.439 --> 00:07:41.560 it in with the Concorde as well, I can have a 00:07:41.560 --> 00:07:44.920 whole aeroplane theme in my museum of family 00:07:44.920 --> 00:07:48.850 history. Yeah, I'm definitely, slowly but surely, 00:07:48.990 --> 00:07:51.629 getting a bit weirder with everything. I do actually 00:07:51.629 --> 00:07:55.670 want to do my Carve the Ghost Stories project 00:07:55.670 --> 00:07:57.889 as well, which is kind of related. It's local 00:07:57.889 --> 00:08:01.029 history, I guess. But I'm getting sucked into 00:08:01.029 --> 00:08:04.329 that idea. I like it. I like all these projects. 00:08:04.730 --> 00:08:07.970 I'm liking you having an amazing bookshelf. And 00:08:07.970 --> 00:08:10.449 on there, you've got your models, you've got 00:08:10.449 --> 00:08:12.990 a diorama with the ghost story, with a map of 00:08:12.990 --> 00:08:15.850 where people can go on the ghost tour. Yeah. 00:08:16.290 --> 00:08:20.269 Yeah. I'm into it. It's weird. Equally, maybe 00:08:20.269 --> 00:08:22.990 I'm just using these as an excuse not to go further 00:08:22.990 --> 00:08:26.810 back in the 1841. No, I think family history's 00:08:26.810 --> 00:08:28.490 got to be a mixture. It's not just that tree. 00:08:28.649 --> 00:08:30.970 It's family history, isn't it? There's a magazine 00:08:30.970 --> 00:08:34.070 which we love and work on day in, day out. It's 00:08:34.070 --> 00:08:36.190 called Family Tree. It is all about the big, 00:08:36.210 --> 00:08:39.070 broad history as well as the little skeleton 00:08:39.070 --> 00:08:41.730 tree, isn't it? I guess so, yeah. I think it's 00:08:41.730 --> 00:08:43.669 taken me my time to get to the history aspect, 00:08:43.730 --> 00:08:48.009 though. I've sort of... let my tree dictate what 00:08:48.009 --> 00:08:51.769 happens because that's where they are at that 00:08:51.769 --> 00:08:54.029 particular time. I've not been actively interested 00:08:54.029 --> 00:08:58.509 in the history. Now it's creeping in. I think 00:08:58.509 --> 00:09:01.409 that's inevitable, isn't it? Because you can't 00:09:01.409 --> 00:09:03.289 do any history if you don't know where the people 00:09:03.289 --> 00:09:05.289 are and when they were alive and where they were 00:09:05.289 --> 00:09:07.929 living. You've got to build that first and then 00:09:07.929 --> 00:09:11.070 you see where the history will come next depending 00:09:11.070 --> 00:09:12.590 on what they did in their lives and when they 00:09:12.590 --> 00:09:15.190 were doing it in their lives. Then you get immersed 00:09:15.190 --> 00:09:17.690 in those little history rabbit holes. I guess 00:09:17.690 --> 00:09:19.350 so, yeah. I just didn't expect it to actually 00:09:19.350 --> 00:09:21.929 happen to me. I thought, I'll just chart these 00:09:21.929 --> 00:09:25.610 bits back and that'll do. Now I'm like obsessed 00:09:25.610 --> 00:09:27.230 with airplanes. I mean, I was already obsessed 00:09:27.230 --> 00:09:29.289 with airplanes, but now I'm really obsessed with 00:09:29.289 --> 00:09:32.049 airplanes. But it's just nice sharing, isn't 00:09:32.049 --> 00:09:33.730 it? It's like even like the ghost thing, it sounds 00:09:33.730 --> 00:09:36.750 a bit whimsical and silly, but it is locations 00:09:36.750 --> 00:09:39.409 that my ancestors have been to, family members 00:09:39.409 --> 00:09:42.169 have been to. And I know loads of people that 00:09:42.169 --> 00:09:43.730 would actually probably get a bit of a kick of, 00:09:44.200 --> 00:09:46.279 hearing the ghost stories of Calvary because 00:09:46.279 --> 00:09:48.740 loads of my friends were brought up here and 00:09:48.740 --> 00:09:52.240 they all loved all that stuff. That doesn't sound 00:09:52.240 --> 00:09:55.019 whimsical and silly. I think it's amazing. These 00:09:55.019 --> 00:09:57.740 things are some of the things which are just 00:09:57.740 --> 00:10:00.220 at the heart of family history because, as you 00:10:00.220 --> 00:10:05.080 say, those ghost stories, we might, depending 00:10:05.080 --> 00:10:08.279 on our attitude to ghosts today, some of us might 00:10:08.279 --> 00:10:10.259 believe them and some of us might listen to them 00:10:10.259 --> 00:10:12.379 a bit tongue -in -cheek. Some of them might... 00:10:12.720 --> 00:10:15.440 Love them to see what actual historical facts 00:10:15.440 --> 00:10:17.620 we can piece together about these ghost stories. 00:10:17.740 --> 00:10:19.700 But even the fact that the story's been handed 00:10:19.700 --> 00:10:24.340 down, the facts of the story, kind of incidental. 00:10:24.340 --> 00:10:27.080 That story was important to that community. So 00:10:27.080 --> 00:10:30.519 that ghost story matters to that community in 00:10:30.519 --> 00:10:32.759 the past and matters to the community today. 00:10:33.019 --> 00:10:36.179 And I think we lose out massively if we don't 00:10:36.179 --> 00:10:41.179 pass on this cultural heritage. I think England's 00:10:41.179 --> 00:10:44.700 really... We're kind of sometimes a bit diffident 00:10:44.700 --> 00:10:47.139 about our cultural heritage. Other countries 00:10:47.139 --> 00:10:50.139 are much more proud. We're quite a complicated 00:10:50.139 --> 00:10:55.100 country. Sometimes we're maybe a little bit worried 00:10:55.100 --> 00:10:58.419 about being show -offs or, you know, we worry 00:10:58.419 --> 00:11:00.320 that we don't want to be arrogant or all these 00:11:00.320 --> 00:11:03.220 things. And so maybe our folklore just takes 00:11:03.220 --> 00:11:05.080 a bit of a hitting and we don't pass it on as 00:11:05.080 --> 00:11:08.460 well as we should do. Yeah, definitely. Nobody 00:11:08.460 --> 00:11:15.279 wants to be Saxon, do they? I don't know. But 00:11:15.279 --> 00:11:17.100 it doesn't have the same mystique as a Viking, 00:11:17.240 --> 00:11:20.139 does it? We don't put it on that pedestal at 00:11:20.139 --> 00:11:22.980 all. No, no, that's very true. Very, very true. 00:11:23.419 --> 00:11:26.799 Weirdly, I don't know why, but yes. Yeah. Maybe 00:11:26.799 --> 00:11:29.759 we should start a movement. Mm, Saxon revival. 00:11:30.340 --> 00:11:32.500 Yeah. No, but then that might get really wrong 00:11:32.500 --> 00:11:36.519 and get really, like, political and... I think 00:11:36.519 --> 00:11:39.539 we just need to enjoy the folk stuff. OK. Keep 00:11:39.539 --> 00:11:42.610 it young. Yes. But I think if I took my DNA test 00:11:42.610 --> 00:11:44.409 again, I probably would have some Saxon heritage 00:11:44.409 --> 00:11:48.330 in there. I don't think it's going to make a 00:11:48.330 --> 00:11:50.750 difference if you take another test. I want to 00:11:50.750 --> 00:11:52.690 pretend that we're going to start the podcast 00:11:52.690 --> 00:11:56.070 from the beginning again. I'd really like to 00:11:56.070 --> 00:12:01.309 find out if I'm a Saxon. Yes. Or you should start 00:12:01.309 --> 00:12:03.789 this again and be like, I really want to find 00:12:03.789 --> 00:12:09.029 out if I'm from Pudsey. Yes. Yes, a result. Oh, 00:12:09.029 --> 00:12:11.340 it's going to be great. I'm a bit worried. What 00:12:11.340 --> 00:12:15.419 if I'm not from Pudse? No, you are. Well, in 00:12:15.419 --> 00:12:17.120 close time you are, aren't you? You've ruined 00:12:17.120 --> 00:12:19.340 the podcast now. No, I haven't ruined the podcast. 00:12:19.700 --> 00:12:23.019 The new one. So the ghost stories, I think, don't 00:12:23.019 --> 00:12:25.820 dismiss the ghost stories and then also don't 00:12:25.820 --> 00:12:28.820 dismiss the aeroplane thing because all of us, 00:12:28.879 --> 00:12:30.720 like what we do in our daily lives, our work, 00:12:30.879 --> 00:12:33.039 that uses up decades and decades of our life. 00:12:33.200 --> 00:12:35.259 So learning that about anybody, what they did 00:12:35.259 --> 00:12:38.460 in their working life, is a huge window into 00:12:38.460 --> 00:12:40.980 what their life is like. So these are really 00:12:40.980 --> 00:12:44.039 valuable things to learn about your individual 00:12:44.039 --> 00:12:47.299 ancestors and all the community that you all 00:12:47.299 --> 00:12:51.659 lived and live in. Yeah. And as you said, you 00:12:51.659 --> 00:12:53.279 know, when you said about the ghost stories, 00:12:53.419 --> 00:12:56.700 you knew other people who'd be interested. And 00:12:56.700 --> 00:12:58.419 so when you're down the pub, you can be telling 00:12:58.419 --> 00:12:59.980 the ghost story and there'll be people there 00:12:59.980 --> 00:13:02.919 who haven't done any family history and you'll 00:13:02.919 --> 00:13:05.360 be able to say, well, my great -great -grandpa 00:13:05.360 --> 00:13:08.220 was alive when the headless horseman, whatever. 00:13:09.279 --> 00:13:12.320 So he might have witnessed this or whatever. 00:13:12.879 --> 00:13:15.179 And they will go, I don't know who my great -great 00:13:15.179 --> 00:13:17.480 -grandpa is. And you'll go, oh, well, let me 00:13:17.480 --> 00:13:19.879 help you. And then before you know it, you can 00:13:19.879 --> 00:13:24.159 get them to do some family history. Seems to 00:13:24.159 --> 00:13:27.960 be the way. Yeah, yeah. Get everybody. Yeah, 00:13:28.080 --> 00:13:30.519 no, it's nice. It's good. It doesn't make a difference. 00:13:30.779 --> 00:13:32.320 I've set the issue that they won't have to worry 00:13:32.320 --> 00:13:34.159 whether they're a Viking and do a DNA test. They 00:13:34.159 --> 00:13:36.840 can just launch into their family tree. Yeah. 00:13:37.309 --> 00:13:39.049 Or I can ask them if they want to be a Saxon 00:13:39.049 --> 00:13:43.309 instead. You can, yes. I'm going for this. This 00:13:43.309 --> 00:13:48.789 is my new soapbox. It is really cool. I love 00:13:48.789 --> 00:13:51.590 it. And I've now got a real big soft spot for 00:13:51.590 --> 00:13:53.409 this aeroplane that I've not given a monkey's 00:13:53.409 --> 00:13:56.710 about for years. It's nice. And then to think, 00:13:56.809 --> 00:13:59.009 I've spent time with my granddad and I never, 00:13:59.049 --> 00:14:03.169 ever knew this. And I know as a kid, I probably 00:14:03.169 --> 00:14:05.309 wouldn't. I did love aeroplanes as a child, but 00:14:05.309 --> 00:14:08.279 I don't think I would have. grasp the concept 00:14:08.279 --> 00:14:10.840 of just what he'd done if he'd actually spoken 00:14:10.840 --> 00:14:13.759 about it which he never did but now I'm like 00:14:13.759 --> 00:14:15.179 oh my god it would have been amazing to talk 00:14:15.179 --> 00:14:18.960 to him about that do you know what we often all 00:14:18.960 --> 00:14:23.659 of us we all say oh I wish I wish I'd asked whoever 00:14:23.659 --> 00:14:27.019 about whatever topic and that's people people 00:14:27.019 --> 00:14:28.440 have been saying it forever and they're going 00:14:28.440 --> 00:14:31.720 to say it forever on into the future and we always 00:14:31.720 --> 00:14:34.059 kind of blame ourselves we all say oh I didn't 00:14:34.059 --> 00:14:37.789 think to ask them How are you to know what to 00:14:37.789 --> 00:14:40.909 ask? So I think the takeaway bit for me hearing 00:14:40.909 --> 00:14:42.929 you say that, because it is really sad that your 00:14:42.929 --> 00:14:46.309 grandpa didn't, the opportunity didn't arise 00:14:46.309 --> 00:14:48.149 for you to talk to your grandpa about that, because 00:14:48.149 --> 00:14:50.470 that would have been a really exciting chapter 00:14:50.470 --> 00:14:52.909 in his life. I would be really proud if I had 00:14:52.909 --> 00:14:56.389 been part of that work and really found it fascinating 00:14:56.389 --> 00:15:00.549 and everything. So the takeaway is, I think for 00:15:00.549 --> 00:15:03.509 all of us, don't wait to be asked. Just not... 00:15:03.710 --> 00:15:05.809 we don't have to be overbearing and boorish and 00:15:05.809 --> 00:15:07.649 people like banging on and on about the past 00:15:07.649 --> 00:15:10.029 but maybe just like drop little bits here and 00:15:10.029 --> 00:15:12.289 there to the younger people in our family trees 00:15:12.289 --> 00:15:14.789 our children our nieces and nephews cousins whatever 00:15:14.789 --> 00:15:18.529 just gently filter things through and if we've 00:15:18.529 --> 00:15:21.529 raised the topic and kind of said about whatever 00:15:21.529 --> 00:15:26.049 from the days of yore when we were kids and younger 00:15:26.049 --> 00:15:28.210 working adults and things then they can pick 00:15:28.210 --> 00:15:31.179 up that sometimes we'll kind of Drop some bait 00:15:31.179 --> 00:15:33.080 and nothing will happen. But then sometimes they 00:15:33.080 --> 00:15:35.320 will ask more and we'll have raised the conversation 00:15:35.320 --> 00:15:37.500 because they don't know that one day they're 00:15:37.500 --> 00:15:39.679 going to wish they'd asked us. Whereas we know 00:15:39.679 --> 00:15:41.840 that we wish we'd asked people and we know the 00:15:41.840 --> 00:15:44.080 chances of them wishing it in the future are 00:15:44.080 --> 00:15:47.240 high. Yeah. It's still going to be a tricky one 00:15:47.240 --> 00:15:49.940 to push through, isn't it? Because it's like 00:15:49.940 --> 00:15:51.659 natural modesty. You don't want to be banging 00:15:51.659 --> 00:15:56.360 on about yourself. Yeah, true. Yeah, you just 00:15:56.360 --> 00:15:57.460 don't think you're that interesting, do you? 00:15:57.899 --> 00:16:02.759 No. No. And also sometimes, like I definitely 00:16:02.759 --> 00:16:05.259 do have some favourite stories that definitely 00:16:05.259 --> 00:16:09.220 do get met with kind of patient people trying 00:16:09.220 --> 00:16:10.860 not to roll their eyes. You say, don't roll my 00:16:10.860 --> 00:16:12.120 eyes. Don't worry, they try to keep their eyes 00:16:12.120 --> 00:16:17.720 from rolling up. But yeah, I plough on. But I 00:16:17.720 --> 00:16:19.820 can't resist telling them the story again, just 00:16:19.820 --> 00:16:23.360 in case it's going to get forgotten. I've just, 00:16:23.399 --> 00:16:26.159 I'm being a bad lad. I've gone to the internet. 00:16:26.919 --> 00:16:30.039 And it turns out there was an airfield in Farsley. 00:16:30.679 --> 00:16:33.360 I had to say, I'm not trying to sound smug, but 00:16:33.360 --> 00:16:36.039 I'm not surprised because we have a different 00:16:36.039 --> 00:16:39.480 attitude to airfields nowadays than airfields 00:16:39.480 --> 00:16:43.200 in the past. That's bonkers. Nowadays, it's a 00:16:43.200 --> 00:16:45.320 massive commercial concern leading a massive 00:16:45.320 --> 00:16:49.320 runway, isn't it? Whereas in the past, we were 00:16:49.320 --> 00:16:52.740 a military society through those wars while the 00:16:52.740 --> 00:16:55.659 aeroplanes, they're completely... contemporary 00:16:55.659 --> 00:16:57.799 the wars and the airplanes that rapid development 00:16:57.799 --> 00:17:01.240 like hand in hand i love it though it's good 00:17:01.240 --> 00:17:04.680 it's crazy i can't believe it apparently from 00:17:04.680 --> 00:17:07.619 world war one this airfield yeah now it's actually 00:17:07.619 --> 00:17:09.839 located there's a school now where it used to 00:17:09.839 --> 00:17:13.839 be yeah that's weird it's really cool so how 00:17:13.839 --> 00:17:15.400 have you found that just by googling or have 00:17:15.400 --> 00:17:17.960 you found an old map i used the internet yes 00:17:18.599 --> 00:17:20.859 So just, I'm not, Googling's not bad. It's good. 00:17:20.900 --> 00:17:23.759 Yeah, I Googled it, yeah. Yeah. So the next thing 00:17:23.759 --> 00:17:25.480 would be to go on the National Library of Scotland's 00:17:25.480 --> 00:17:28.960 map website and get maps from the early and mid 00:17:28.960 --> 00:17:30.740 -20th century. You're able to see the little 00:17:30.740 --> 00:17:34.400 airfield. That is quite cool. It's very cool. 00:17:35.819 --> 00:17:37.380 It's told me that there's a couple of squadrons 00:17:37.380 --> 00:17:39.039 that were based there as well. Oh, it's getting 00:17:39.039 --> 00:17:41.420 cooler and cooler by the minute. Yeah, it is 00:17:41.420 --> 00:17:45.900 cool. Yeah. Oh, wow. So, yeah, I could just get 00:17:45.900 --> 00:17:47.420 lost in this aeroplane for a bit and actually 00:17:47.420 --> 00:17:50.519 do no real family history research. Stop saying 00:17:50.519 --> 00:17:52.740 it. It is family history. And also, potentially, 00:17:52.819 --> 00:17:55.940 if you wanted to, you can just set up your project 00:17:55.940 --> 00:17:57.579 folder and just keep what you find to yourself. 00:17:57.799 --> 00:17:59.980 And that's fine. There's nothing wrong with that. 00:18:00.259 --> 00:18:02.599 Or if you were minded to, you could put a blog 00:18:02.599 --> 00:18:04.740 somewhere. You could put some of your notes on 00:18:04.740 --> 00:18:08.720 the Trambutee podcast notes page about what you're 00:18:08.720 --> 00:18:11.039 finding about this aeroplane. And then somebody 00:18:11.039 --> 00:18:13.849 at some point will be Googling. the, what's it 00:18:13.849 --> 00:18:15.329 called again, the English Electric Lightning 00:18:15.329 --> 00:18:17.329 Plane and then they'll come across your notes 00:18:17.329 --> 00:18:19.049 and then they'll want to get in touch with you 00:18:19.049 --> 00:18:22.410 and share research about the plane because they 00:18:22.410 --> 00:18:24.990 too have an ancestor who worked on it. Yeah. 00:18:25.150 --> 00:18:28.150 It's pretty nice. Or they'll prove me wrong and 00:18:28.150 --> 00:18:30.529 it actually is all a lie. That's what I'm terrified 00:18:30.529 --> 00:18:33.390 about. Now I've put it out there. Actually, no, 00:18:33.650 --> 00:18:35.730 you didn't really work on it. Actually, they 00:18:35.730 --> 00:18:38.430 just invented like the light bulbs for it or 00:18:38.430 --> 00:18:41.230 something like that. I think that's okay. It 00:18:41.230 --> 00:18:43.349 all helps. It still works, doesn't it? It's still 00:18:43.349 --> 00:18:45.970 part of the aeroplane. Yep, definitely part of 00:18:45.970 --> 00:18:49.849 the aeroplane. Yeah, it's cool. I also need to 00:18:49.849 --> 00:18:54.130 find out this Concorde thing. And I think that's 00:18:54.130 --> 00:18:56.630 really interesting as well, like how much, when 00:18:56.630 --> 00:18:59.150 you mentioned about chatting about your grandpa's 00:18:59.150 --> 00:19:03.960 aeroplane endeavours. how much that got the whole 00:19:03.960 --> 00:19:06.720 family involved in chatting and brainstorming 00:19:06.720 --> 00:19:08.619 and dredging up things they thought they'd never 00:19:08.619 --> 00:19:10.819 knew, things they thought they'd long forgotten. 00:19:11.460 --> 00:19:14.720 That's cool. Yeah, it's quite cute, like, listening 00:19:14.720 --> 00:19:17.700 to them all, like, chatting away, because they're 00:19:17.700 --> 00:19:20.720 all sort of, like, almost struggling to recollect, 00:19:20.720 --> 00:19:22.099 and then one of them says something, and it's 00:19:22.099 --> 00:19:23.980 like, oh, yeah, they did this and they did that 00:19:23.980 --> 00:19:26.380 and that happened, and obviously, like, the war 00:19:26.380 --> 00:19:29.039 years, they weren't even alive, so they're recollecting 00:19:29.039 --> 00:19:31.900 memories of things that have been told. Like 00:19:31.900 --> 00:19:33.559 you say, you've got to get this out of them while 00:19:33.559 --> 00:19:35.920 you can because there ain't that many people 00:19:35.920 --> 00:19:39.059 left in my family. Yes. Share this information. 00:19:40.119 --> 00:19:42.339 Yes, I mean, it's twofold, isn't it? You've got 00:19:42.339 --> 00:19:45.920 to get the facts out of the older people because 00:19:45.920 --> 00:19:48.279 they're kind of a precious repository. Their 00:19:48.279 --> 00:19:50.960 heads are... precious repository of info but 00:19:50.960 --> 00:19:53.700 also it's just so fun like what could just be 00:19:53.700 --> 00:19:56.119 an ordinary boring conversation going oh isn't 00:19:56.119 --> 00:19:58.940 it hot today and um how's your work been over 00:19:58.940 --> 00:20:00.960 the last week like those conversations are all 00:20:00.960 --> 00:20:03.420 right and then suddenly everyone doesn't mind 00:20:03.420 --> 00:20:05.759 how hot it is or what how their work was they're 00:20:05.759 --> 00:20:09.200 all in this shared endeavor of racking their 00:20:09.200 --> 00:20:12.059 brains trying to find out some family history 00:20:12.059 --> 00:20:14.740 it's brilliant yeah it definitely is but it's 00:20:14.740 --> 00:20:18.059 terrifying as well like If I hadn't asked the 00:20:18.059 --> 00:20:21.519 questions, all I'd be left with are the little 00:20:21.519 --> 00:20:23.420 notebooks and things, which I don't think are 00:20:23.420 --> 00:20:24.779 going to have any information about aeroplanes 00:20:24.779 --> 00:20:27.339 on them. But that information could quite easily 00:20:27.339 --> 00:20:30.180 have been lost. Oh, yeah, he was just an electrician. 00:20:31.019 --> 00:20:34.359 And then there'd be nothing else about it. I'm 00:20:34.359 --> 00:20:35.599 sure there would have been some sort of official 00:20:35.599 --> 00:20:37.380 secrets act or whatever if he was working on 00:20:37.380 --> 00:20:40.859 military planes. I don't know. But it's terrifying, 00:20:41.000 --> 00:20:43.079 isn't it? That information would just be lost. 00:20:43.220 --> 00:20:45.279 It wouldn't be part of his profile. I wouldn't 00:20:45.279 --> 00:20:47.480 have it on Ancestry. So no, he worked on this 00:20:47.480 --> 00:20:51.500 aeroplane. So it's worth asking the questions. 00:20:53.480 --> 00:20:55.940 And you often hear when people are talking about 00:20:55.940 --> 00:20:59.519 their ancestors, the inherited qualities that 00:20:59.519 --> 00:21:03.240 people have. So whether it's really good with 00:21:03.240 --> 00:21:05.900 his hands, if he's actually making parts for 00:21:05.900 --> 00:21:08.880 an aeroplane, or loads of attention to detail. 00:21:10.439 --> 00:21:13.240 fastidiousness and good at turning a concept 00:21:13.240 --> 00:21:15.700 into a reality there's loads of complicated things 00:21:15.700 --> 00:21:17.900 those qualities he would have had even if he's 00:21:17.900 --> 00:21:19.559 making the light bulb could you make a light 00:21:19.559 --> 00:21:23.059 bulb no no it's hard isn't it i i can't either 00:21:23.059 --> 00:21:26.440 um so anything it's all complicated clever stuff 00:21:26.440 --> 00:21:36.380 it is yeah so helen what have you been up to 00:21:36.380 --> 00:21:39.920 now Well, in recent times, I have had a very 00:21:39.920 --> 00:21:43.640 exciting time. Went up to Glasgow for this amazing 00:21:43.640 --> 00:21:46.980 symposium and I met loads of those lovely people 00:21:46.980 --> 00:21:50.559 who we see on screen and I saw them in real life. 00:21:50.740 --> 00:21:54.259 That was good fun. Yes. Learning about all sorts 00:21:54.259 --> 00:21:56.640 of different things like family history, planning 00:21:56.640 --> 00:21:59.900 skills and family history, business skills and 00:21:59.900 --> 00:22:03.380 using AI in family history, all sorts of things 00:22:03.380 --> 00:22:06.329 like that. And that was organised by... And the 00:22:06.329 --> 00:22:09.170 APG, which is the Association of Professional 00:22:09.170 --> 00:22:12.630 Genealogists. And so they're an international 00:22:12.630 --> 00:22:15.369 organization. So there are lots of American and 00:22:15.369 --> 00:22:17.130 genealogists there. Genealogists from all over 00:22:17.130 --> 00:22:19.730 the world. Good fun. So I've been doing that. 00:22:19.750 --> 00:22:22.390 I've been busily writing notes about all sorts 00:22:22.390 --> 00:22:26.369 of helpful things that they suggested. So yeah, 00:22:26.589 --> 00:22:28.869 I look forward to putting those into practice. 00:22:30.279 --> 00:22:33.680 And then on my own family history, I suddenly 00:22:33.680 --> 00:22:35.759 realised we've got some really cool courses coming 00:22:35.759 --> 00:22:38.200 up this summer. And I thought, right, I need 00:22:38.200 --> 00:22:39.960 to prep for them because whenever we do a course, 00:22:40.099 --> 00:22:44.039 it is one of those things where I do do the course 00:22:44.039 --> 00:22:46.980 along with the customers because then I can see 00:22:46.980 --> 00:22:49.900 what it's like being a customer. And then I can 00:22:49.900 --> 00:22:52.700 kind of relate to the customers. Yeah. And so 00:22:52.700 --> 00:22:57.119 we've got a really cool course on using AI to 00:22:57.119 --> 00:22:59.910 help solve brick walls. So then I dusted off 00:22:59.910 --> 00:23:02.150 a massive, massive brick wall, which I've had, 00:23:02.230 --> 00:23:06.130 I found the date of the file. The last date I 00:23:06.130 --> 00:23:10.549 properly worked on it was in 2023. Wow. But it's 00:23:10.549 --> 00:23:12.650 all in the project folder. It's good to go. Yeah. 00:23:13.250 --> 00:23:15.710 Nice. I know. That's why I'm a big fan of these 00:23:15.710 --> 00:23:18.549 project folders. And although I have to say 2026 00:23:18.549 --> 00:23:21.970 is the year of really bad note keeping for me. 00:23:22.450 --> 00:23:27.859 Back in 2023, I was doing better. Yeah. And so, 00:23:27.960 --> 00:23:31.299 and I have accumulated a lot of information and 00:23:31.299 --> 00:23:34.660 I think that it's going to make it an ideal project 00:23:34.660 --> 00:23:38.180 to use AI for to help me analyse what I found 00:23:38.180 --> 00:23:41.960 and to try and start making some progress on 00:23:41.960 --> 00:23:44.319 solving the brick wall. Yeah, that'd be cool. 00:23:44.400 --> 00:23:45.680 That'd be interesting to see if it actually does 00:23:45.680 --> 00:23:48.359 help you. I think it will definitely help me. 00:23:48.700 --> 00:23:51.509 Yeah. What I need to do is try and control the 00:23:51.509 --> 00:23:53.990 AI a little bit so that I keep saying, keep it 00:23:53.990 --> 00:23:56.710 succinct. I need a short answer with an actual 00:23:56.710 --> 00:23:59.849 task to do. I don't need reams of stuff that 00:23:59.849 --> 00:24:02.029 I haven't got time to wade through. Yeah. Would 00:24:02.029 --> 00:24:03.670 you like this information? Would you like that 00:24:03.670 --> 00:24:05.750 information? This sounds like your character. 00:24:05.769 --> 00:24:08.769 Maybe we'd like to do this instead. Stop it, 00:24:08.789 --> 00:24:13.250 AI. Yes. Yes. So I've been doing that. So that's 00:24:13.250 --> 00:24:14.869 somebody I've mentioned before in the podcast. 00:24:14.950 --> 00:24:18.390 It's my Janet McLaren. So the one who's dad. 00:24:19.379 --> 00:24:22.079 allegedly was at the Battle of Culloden, got 00:24:22.079 --> 00:24:25.200 captured and then jumped off the wagon down the 00:24:25.200 --> 00:24:28.039 side of the gorge of the cliff or whatever and 00:24:28.039 --> 00:24:30.920 escaped, never to be seen again. And we were 00:24:30.920 --> 00:24:33.779 like, yes, go, go Captain McLaren, don't get 00:24:33.779 --> 00:24:36.079 captured by the horrible British, horrible British 00:24:36.079 --> 00:24:39.940 soldiers. So anyway, but we all like to think 00:24:39.940 --> 00:24:43.140 we're related to him, but we haven't got any 00:24:43.140 --> 00:24:47.099 proof that would stand up even for a one minute 00:24:47.099 --> 00:24:49.269 conversation in court. Right, and that's what 00:24:49.269 --> 00:24:51.829 you're going to use AI to find? Yes. All right. 00:24:52.009 --> 00:24:54.269 So what I did was then I collected all the Janet, 00:24:54.329 --> 00:24:56.829 so I know I've got an ancestor called Janet McLaren, 00:24:57.009 --> 00:25:00.529 born in, I think it's, I can't remember, I can 00:25:00.529 --> 00:25:03.390 look it up again, 1783. And I know I've got her, 00:25:03.549 --> 00:25:08.670 so that's fine. But whether her dad is the dad 00:25:08.670 --> 00:25:10.730 that we all want him to be is another question. 00:25:10.950 --> 00:25:13.849 So I collected all the Janet McLarens to make 00:25:13.849 --> 00:25:15.509 sure I've definitely got the right Janet McLaren. 00:25:15.730 --> 00:25:18.660 There's 83 of them. That's why I think AI can 00:25:18.660 --> 00:25:20.980 help me. I'm like, come on, 83 is a lot of Janet 00:25:20.980 --> 00:25:23.140 McLarens to win. That is a lot, yeah. That's 00:25:23.140 --> 00:25:25.480 going to be a good challenge for the LDA. Yes, 00:25:25.480 --> 00:25:28.099 it is, yeah. That's cool. So that's one thing. 00:25:28.180 --> 00:25:30.180 And then the other thing is a course which is 00:25:30.180 --> 00:25:32.960 not happening yet, but I'm so excited about this. 00:25:33.000 --> 00:25:35.039 It's a really novel course. So it's an online 00:25:35.039 --> 00:25:36.740 course. You can join wherever you want in the 00:25:36.740 --> 00:25:39.380 world. But the thing is why I'm talking about 00:25:39.380 --> 00:25:42.440 it now is because everybody who goes on the course 00:25:42.440 --> 00:25:46.079 is going to get sent a box, an actual, not a... 00:25:46.250 --> 00:25:48.750 not a digital box or anything else, an actual 00:25:48.750 --> 00:25:51.990 box. And inside the box, when you open up the 00:25:51.990 --> 00:25:53.609 little lid, it has a little magnetic closure. 00:25:53.849 --> 00:25:56.690 Open up that. Inside there, there are letters 00:25:56.690 --> 00:26:00.730 and ribbons and wax seal stamps, just how you 00:26:00.730 --> 00:26:02.990 know it's proper history with, you know, red 00:26:02.990 --> 00:26:06.009 candles so you could make up a seal on the letters 00:26:06.009 --> 00:26:08.450 you have, and little cute bags to put treasures 00:26:08.450 --> 00:26:11.269 in. And with Jana Helstein, then we're going 00:26:11.269 --> 00:26:15.049 to be using this time capsule, using this box 00:26:15.049 --> 00:26:19.039 of goodies, to get people to just start noting 00:26:19.039 --> 00:26:22.500 down the things about their life that they want 00:26:22.500 --> 00:26:26.759 to be kept, to treasure their life, to get passed 00:26:26.759 --> 00:26:29.579 on for the future. And again, it's not a thing 00:26:29.579 --> 00:26:31.339 to bang on about yourself. It is to talk about 00:26:31.339 --> 00:26:34.039 your own life. But there's loads of things we 00:26:34.039 --> 00:26:37.200 would love to know from our ancestors. It could 00:26:37.200 --> 00:26:39.359 be a recipe we want to know. It could be something 00:26:39.359 --> 00:26:41.039 we wished we knew, how they got through a tough 00:26:41.039 --> 00:26:45.319 time. It could be... um a mistake they make sometimes 00:26:45.319 --> 00:26:47.339 you make a mistake and you just feel such a twit 00:26:47.339 --> 00:26:49.700 don't you but everybody makes mistakes and so 00:26:49.700 --> 00:26:51.299 it's nice to know you're not alone it's just 00:26:51.299 --> 00:26:53.960 part of being a human and they got up dusted 00:26:53.960 --> 00:26:55.740 themselves off how do they cope with it you know 00:26:55.740 --> 00:26:58.180 the difficult messy bits of our lives so all 00:26:58.180 --> 00:26:59.920 of that make a time capsule and in there you 00:26:59.920 --> 00:27:03.000 can also put um funky little things so you could 00:27:03.000 --> 00:27:04.880 put one of your running medals anything you know 00:27:04.880 --> 00:27:06.559 things which are meaningful to you and meaningful 00:27:06.559 --> 00:27:09.000 to what your life's about so that's going to 00:27:09.000 --> 00:27:12.119 be fun yeah that sounds great It kind of ties 00:27:12.119 --> 00:27:13.599 into what I was saying earlier about not knowing. 00:27:13.599 --> 00:27:15.319 It totally ties it. You need one of these time 00:27:15.319 --> 00:27:19.160 capsules. You really do, Nathan. Yeah. I'll have 00:27:19.160 --> 00:27:22.799 to see if I can bag one. You could join on the 00:27:22.799 --> 00:27:26.759 course as well. So that's kind of my world at 00:27:26.759 --> 00:27:29.420 the moment of just lots and lots and lots of 00:27:29.420 --> 00:27:31.740 things. I haven't done what I said I was going 00:27:31.740 --> 00:27:33.839 to do, which is my photo inventory, which I've 00:27:33.839 --> 00:27:36.220 really, really got to do that. I've got a September 00:27:36.220 --> 00:27:40.480 cutoff date for that. But it's hard, isn't it, 00:27:40.500 --> 00:27:44.279 that juggling thing? It is, but to me, that project 00:27:44.279 --> 00:27:46.220 sounds more like a wet weather slash winter, 00:27:46.319 --> 00:27:48.559 autumn sort of thing, when it's cold, sorting 00:27:48.559 --> 00:27:51.200 out your photographs. It's too warm to be sat 00:27:51.200 --> 00:27:54.039 in front of a computer now and doing that sort 00:27:54.039 --> 00:27:57.259 of inventory thing. Do you know the reason why 00:27:57.259 --> 00:27:59.119 I like doing it in the summer, and I have done 00:27:59.119 --> 00:28:00.599 it in the past in the summer and the winter, 00:28:00.740 --> 00:28:04.000 is because obviously, clearly, you can scan an 00:28:04.000 --> 00:28:07.220 old photo, put it on the scanner. But I'm such 00:28:07.220 --> 00:28:09.240 an impatient person. And while that photo is 00:28:09.240 --> 00:28:11.220 scanning, I'm literally like my foot's tapping. 00:28:11.839 --> 00:28:15.240 My breathing is getting a little bit tense. Whereas 00:28:15.240 --> 00:28:18.180 if I take a photo, an old photo in daylight, 00:28:18.279 --> 00:28:21.059 I can do it quick, quick, quick, quick. Yeah? 00:28:21.500 --> 00:28:24.559 Okay, yeah. So I'm just too impatient for that 00:28:24.559 --> 00:28:26.740 winter scanning thing. And you like the good 00:28:26.740 --> 00:28:29.319 light. Yeah, I like the good light. So that's 00:28:29.319 --> 00:28:30.940 why I know I've got to do it through the summer. 00:28:31.579 --> 00:28:34.440 Nice. I've just learned how impatient person 00:28:34.440 --> 00:28:37.720 I am. I don't think it's going to change. I thought 00:28:37.720 --> 00:28:39.460 it was fair enough. Fair enough. But you're right, 00:28:39.539 --> 00:28:40.980 though. It would be a perfect winter project. 00:28:41.740 --> 00:28:43.920 Yeah. I'm just feeling the heat right now. It's 00:28:43.920 --> 00:28:45.420 hard to concentrate on a lot of stuff, isn't 00:28:45.420 --> 00:28:52.019 it? That's my excuse. No, it is very hot. We 00:28:52.019 --> 00:28:53.960 were thinking the other day, we were all trying 00:28:53.960 --> 00:28:56.079 to remember what it was like back in the 70s, 00:28:56.079 --> 00:28:57.740 so you wouldn't have been born when it was the 00:28:57.740 --> 00:29:00.299 last heat waves in the 70s. It did feel very 00:29:00.299 --> 00:29:03.400 hot at the time, but there's another patch on 00:29:03.400 --> 00:29:07.640 what this is. Really? I mean, it's Gloucestershire. 00:29:07.740 --> 00:29:11.839 I think it was like 35 or 36. And then we're 00:29:11.839 --> 00:29:15.359 topping out there all the time now. Shocking, 00:29:15.420 --> 00:29:18.079 isn't it? It's absolutely terrifying. We had 00:29:18.079 --> 00:29:20.160 a massive thunderstorm this morning and it was 00:29:20.160 --> 00:29:22.940 like torrential. And I'm going to talk about 00:29:22.940 --> 00:29:25.960 running. I went running and it was amazing. It 00:29:25.960 --> 00:29:28.119 was like absolutely torrential, thunder and lightning. 00:29:28.200 --> 00:29:31.259 And bear in mind, it's been like 31, 32 degrees 00:29:31.259 --> 00:29:33.339 every single day for the last three or four. 00:29:33.839 --> 00:29:36.099 It's just been awful for running and the temperature 00:29:36.099 --> 00:29:38.279 was like perfect for running. The rain didn't 00:29:38.279 --> 00:29:40.640 deter me at all. I was absolutely drenched. It 00:29:40.640 --> 00:29:44.079 was great. But the downside is it's a little 00:29:44.079 --> 00:29:48.940 terrifying. But the interesting point is that 00:29:48.940 --> 00:29:52.559 you talking about that and writing it down somewhere 00:29:52.559 --> 00:29:54.900 in a little journal and saying about what it's 00:29:54.900 --> 00:29:59.079 like going running in 2026, this is like sometimes 00:29:59.079 --> 00:30:03.279 you occasionally get a reader who writes in, 00:30:03.759 --> 00:30:05.880 about maybe their granny's diary and they kept 00:30:05.880 --> 00:30:08.680 a diary all through the 1920s or something, which 00:30:08.680 --> 00:30:10.859 at the time was just felt very inconsequential. 00:30:11.240 --> 00:30:13.099 Just their diary about what they bought when 00:30:13.099 --> 00:30:14.839 they went food shopping, that sort of thing. 00:30:14.960 --> 00:30:17.759 But suddenly you just add on the perspective 00:30:17.759 --> 00:30:21.599 of time and then it becomes really interesting 00:30:21.599 --> 00:30:23.819 and it's not just a little standalone fact, it's 00:30:23.819 --> 00:30:26.539 a case study of what it looks like when the weather 00:30:26.539 --> 00:30:29.019 suddenly is getting drastically warmer. Yeah, 00:30:29.039 --> 00:30:33.289 social history. It is, yes. I'm not sure anybody 00:30:33.289 --> 00:30:36.730 would want to read my run diary, though. It would 00:30:36.730 --> 00:30:38.869 be very, very boring. Pretty much like talking 00:30:38.869 --> 00:30:41.910 to me all the time, to be honest. Do you include 00:30:41.910 --> 00:30:45.250 the temperature in your run diary? No, I don't 00:30:45.250 --> 00:30:47.150 actually have a run diary. I've got Strava. I 00:30:47.150 --> 00:30:51.509 think you can include weather. I will generally 00:30:51.509 --> 00:30:53.650 just comment or put a picture of myself looking 00:30:53.650 --> 00:30:59.150 soaking wet. Warm today. I wore a vest. Very 00:30:59.150 --> 00:31:09.720 fascinating. Yeah, whatever. Do you know what? 00:31:09.759 --> 00:31:12.599 We have had a lovely message from a podcast listener. 00:31:12.740 --> 00:31:15.799 Do you want me to read it out? Please do. So 00:31:15.799 --> 00:31:20.440 his email is very exciting for lots and lots 00:31:20.440 --> 00:31:23.700 of reasons. So John likes writing in and he says, 00:31:23.779 --> 00:31:25.619 first of all, he'd like to say how much he enjoys 00:31:25.619 --> 00:31:28.869 the weekly. podcast he's a regular listener and 00:31:28.869 --> 00:31:30.670 he always tries to guess how many times nathan 00:31:30.670 --> 00:31:32.349 you're going to use the word scary or terrifying 00:31:32.349 --> 00:31:34.630 and it makes him smile because we've all been 00:31:34.630 --> 00:31:36.470 in that situation before i don't think you've 00:31:36.470 --> 00:31:39.890 said that at all today actually oh i'm a bit 00:31:39.890 --> 00:31:45.410 terrified to say if i have oh no you've john's 00:31:45.410 --> 00:31:47.609 been doing his family history since the 1990s 00:31:47.609 --> 00:31:50.329 before the internet So it was all local libraries, 00:31:50.569 --> 00:31:53.049 archives, trips to London and microfiche readers. 00:31:53.210 --> 00:31:56.170 And he even bought a microfiche reader to have 00:31:56.170 --> 00:31:58.670 at home. Wow. Anyway, this is something which 00:31:58.670 --> 00:32:00.930 is encouraging for me and you. He says, the thing 00:32:00.930 --> 00:32:03.490 with family history is, as you know, you can 00:32:03.490 --> 00:32:05.450 drop it for a year or two because no one's going 00:32:05.450 --> 00:32:08.730 anywhere. Your ancestors are still there and 00:32:08.730 --> 00:32:10.829 you've still got to find them. So I think that 00:32:10.829 --> 00:32:12.710 is a nice feeling because I don't want to drop 00:32:12.710 --> 00:32:14.990 it for a year or two. But it is really nice that 00:32:14.990 --> 00:32:17.890 don't worry if you can't do everything all at 00:32:17.890 --> 00:32:20.509 once. Just concentrate on what you're working 00:32:20.509 --> 00:32:23.829 on and then concentrate on the next bit. Because 00:32:23.829 --> 00:32:27.150 it's just, we all wish we had more hours in the 00:32:27.150 --> 00:32:30.589 day to find out more, don't we? Yeah, that is 00:32:30.589 --> 00:32:32.130 quite a calming thought actually, isn't it? It 00:32:32.130 --> 00:32:34.710 is quite calming. You start treating it like 00:32:34.710 --> 00:32:36.390 a job, don't you? And you forget that actually. 00:32:36.490 --> 00:32:38.150 It's a hobby, you're meant to enjoy it and it's 00:32:38.150 --> 00:32:39.910 there for you. Yes, and you don't have to be 00:32:39.910 --> 00:32:41.890 in a panic that if you haven't done it yet, you 00:32:41.890 --> 00:32:43.910 can't do it. It's like, just concentrate and 00:32:43.910 --> 00:32:46.609 enjoy. Enjoy the process, enjoy the bit you're 00:32:46.609 --> 00:32:50.440 in. And then John goes on to say that he retired 00:32:50.440 --> 00:32:51.980 a couple of years ago. He's really got back into 00:32:51.980 --> 00:32:55.359 the hobby and he's even had a DNA test. And from 00:32:55.359 --> 00:32:57.960 there, even though like you, he is a bit scared 00:32:57.960 --> 00:33:00.599 of it, or he says very scared of it, DNA's helped 00:33:00.599 --> 00:33:02.519 him get in touch with a cousin in Australia and 00:33:02.519 --> 00:33:04.359 he's found other cousins in New York and California. 00:33:04.559 --> 00:33:07.440 And that's just so fun finding those family connections 00:33:07.440 --> 00:33:11.220 around the world. And he also has a brick wall 00:33:11.220 --> 00:33:14.720 for his great -great -grandfather. It's almost 00:33:14.720 --> 00:33:16.700 like a checklist of bingo of all the things that 00:33:16.700 --> 00:33:18.619 we have in our family history, don't we, Rose? 00:33:18.900 --> 00:33:20.619 Lots of things that we managed to find, and then 00:33:20.619 --> 00:33:22.779 there's other things, which are some ancestors, 00:33:22.839 --> 00:33:24.640 and so frustrating, and you just can't find out 00:33:24.640 --> 00:33:26.920 anything about them. Then he has a different 00:33:26.920 --> 00:33:28.400 great -great -grandfather, and this is a funny 00:33:28.400 --> 00:33:30.680 story. So his different great -great -grandfather 00:33:30.680 --> 00:33:33.859 is George Groves, and he can find out everything 00:33:33.859 --> 00:33:36.700 about George Groves, including the many years 00:33:36.700 --> 00:33:39.359 that he worked at Highgate Cemetery in London 00:33:39.359 --> 00:33:42.750 as a gardener or gatekeeper. And he spoke with 00:33:42.750 --> 00:33:45.009 somebody at the cemetery who explained that his 00:33:45.009 --> 00:33:47.170 ancestor actually lived in one of the lodges 00:33:47.170 --> 00:33:50.490 on site. And he was invited in to meet the archivist. 00:33:50.490 --> 00:33:53.250 And he had a great day and he got given details 00:33:53.250 --> 00:33:56.730 of his great -grandfather's pay packet and the 00:33:56.730 --> 00:34:00.289 locations of the graves and information about 00:34:00.289 --> 00:34:02.650 where the lodge once stood because it was obliterated 00:34:02.650 --> 00:34:05.930 by a bomb in the Second World War. And one of 00:34:05.930 --> 00:34:08.469 John's family stories was that his grandmother 00:34:08.469 --> 00:34:11.150 could remember as a little girl visiting her 00:34:11.150 --> 00:34:13.670 granddad George at the lodge, and she remembers 00:34:13.670 --> 00:34:17.170 seeing the veg he grew. Anyway, John had a lovely 00:34:17.170 --> 00:34:20.610 day then. Later on, he was searching online in 00:34:20.610 --> 00:34:23.010 the newspapers and found a letter to the Times 00:34:23.010 --> 00:34:26.670 where someone was complaining about someone growing 00:34:26.670 --> 00:34:29.550 veg in the cemetery grounds. And he even spoke 00:34:29.550 --> 00:34:31.969 to one of the gardeners during his visit. And 00:34:31.969 --> 00:34:35.250 the date of the letter ties in with John's grandmother 00:34:35.250 --> 00:34:37.469 as a little girl. And he likes to think that 00:34:37.469 --> 00:34:40.170 the gardener being complained about in the letter 00:34:40.170 --> 00:34:43.050 in the Times was his two times great grandfather, 00:34:43.170 --> 00:34:45.780 George. Isn't that cool? That would be cool. 00:34:46.119 --> 00:34:48.719 It's really cool. And I love it because at the 00:34:48.719 --> 00:34:51.039 time, that was probably quite frustrating for 00:34:51.039 --> 00:34:53.840 George. He's busy there trying to grow his veg. 00:34:54.739 --> 00:34:57.460 And he probably wasn't, when the person said 00:34:57.460 --> 00:34:59.780 that he spoke to the gardener, if the person 00:34:59.780 --> 00:35:01.340 is that cross and hot under the collar, they 00:35:01.340 --> 00:35:03.639 wrote into the Times. I imagine the conversation 00:35:03.639 --> 00:35:08.019 on the day probably wasn't the most joyful conversation. 00:35:08.340 --> 00:35:10.079 He might have been being ticked off a bit, mightn't 00:35:10.079 --> 00:35:13.409 he? Yeah. But it's still so fun. I love those 00:35:13.409 --> 00:35:15.590 insights that John's pieced all that together. 00:35:15.929 --> 00:35:21.869 That is really cool. It's very, very funny. It's 00:35:21.869 --> 00:35:24.809 funny, isn't it, how it's a mixture of a handed 00:35:24.809 --> 00:35:29.489 down story which suddenly a newly digitised record 00:35:29.489 --> 00:35:31.610 online suddenly went, wait a minute, this isn't 00:35:31.610 --> 00:35:33.570 just a random old story from Granny. I think 00:35:33.570 --> 00:35:36.070 we've got some evidence for it here. Yeah, that's 00:35:36.070 --> 00:35:37.829 brilliant. That's quite exciting. It's really 00:35:37.829 --> 00:35:41.719 exciting. Yeah. I'm now worried and terrified 00:35:41.719 --> 00:35:44.719 as to what I say repeatedly on this podcast. 00:35:45.880 --> 00:35:47.579 Well, I think we probably all say loads of things. 00:35:47.860 --> 00:35:50.099 I think maybe we'll play bingo next week. We'll 00:35:50.099 --> 00:35:51.840 come up with a checklist. Things to look out 00:35:51.840 --> 00:35:54.860 for that Nathan and Helen say. We could play, 00:35:54.980 --> 00:35:56.579 you know, so what episode are we on now? We're 00:35:56.579 --> 00:35:59.260 on episode 83. I think we need to start doing 00:35:59.260 --> 00:36:02.320 some celebratory things. We could maybe, in the 00:36:02.320 --> 00:36:05.280 coming weeks and months, we could do, when we 00:36:05.280 --> 00:36:07.199 do our 100th episode, we've got to do something 00:36:07.199 --> 00:36:10.800 fun for that, haven't we? Yes. Dress up like 00:36:10.800 --> 00:36:13.579 Saxons for the day. We could do that. Yes, that'd 00:36:13.579 --> 00:36:16.760 be really good. And we can invent a family history 00:36:16.760 --> 00:36:20.420 bingo game where us and anybody who listens to 00:36:20.420 --> 00:36:22.659 the podcast could just go through their family 00:36:22.659 --> 00:36:24.559 history and see if they're suffering from all 00:36:24.559 --> 00:36:27.659 of the hazards. Or those things as well. Yeah, 00:36:27.659 --> 00:36:30.159 definitely. Yeah. That sounds like a great idea. 00:36:30.440 --> 00:36:33.360 If anybody has anything they think would deserve 00:36:33.360 --> 00:36:35.579 to go on a family history bingo card, then... 00:36:35.769 --> 00:36:38.050 don't hesitate to email in. And it can be just 00:36:38.050 --> 00:36:41.849 classic things that we all suffer from. Yeah. 00:36:42.670 --> 00:36:45.230 Multiple Maryanns, that's got to be in one. Yes, 00:36:45.389 --> 00:36:50.070 yes. Yes. And lots of David Davies all in a row. 00:36:50.289 --> 00:36:53.250 Oh, my gosh. Yeah. All of those sort of things. 00:36:53.949 --> 00:36:56.070 So, Nathan, what are we going to be doing over 00:36:56.070 --> 00:36:59.989 the coming week? Oh, I am going to probably actually 00:36:59.989 --> 00:37:02.250 get a little bit more lost in this aeroplane. 00:37:02.889 --> 00:37:05.420 I think you should get totally lost in it. Yeah, 00:37:05.519 --> 00:37:08.260 I got lost in the actual aeroplane itself. But 00:37:08.260 --> 00:37:11.239 as you've just quite quickly highlighted, I wasn't 00:37:11.239 --> 00:37:13.280 really interested in the social surroundings 00:37:13.280 --> 00:37:15.559 of it. So the fact that there was an airfield 00:37:15.559 --> 00:37:18.099 in Farsley is really exciting. So I'm going to 00:37:18.099 --> 00:37:20.179 do a bit more digging and find out, well, try 00:37:20.179 --> 00:37:22.760 and find out exactly what they did in Farsley. 00:37:22.820 --> 00:37:24.519 Because in my head, I was like, they won't build 00:37:24.519 --> 00:37:26.340 a full aeroplane because there's nowhere to fly 00:37:26.340 --> 00:37:29.079 it. But now my perception's totally changed because 00:37:29.079 --> 00:37:32.000 there was an airfield. I want to sort of see 00:37:32.000 --> 00:37:34.280 if I can... Find out a little bit more about 00:37:34.280 --> 00:37:37.719 what was made and where. So that'll be my task. 00:37:37.760 --> 00:37:40.940 Brilliant. Brilliant. I can't promise that I'll 00:37:40.940 --> 00:37:43.340 be able to do it, but I'll give it a whirl. Yeah, 00:37:43.360 --> 00:37:44.980 no, that sounds a really, really fun project. 00:37:45.760 --> 00:37:47.199 Failing that, I'll just go on the internet and 00:37:47.199 --> 00:37:49.880 buy lots of model aeroplanes. Yes, I think you 00:37:49.880 --> 00:37:52.519 should do that as well. Yeah. Yeah, that sounds 00:37:52.519 --> 00:37:55.039 really good. What are you going to do? I'm going 00:37:55.039 --> 00:37:57.730 to carry on with my Janet McLaren. I'm just going 00:37:57.730 --> 00:38:00.869 through it so that when we get to August, which 00:38:00.869 --> 00:38:02.989 seems a while away, but if weeks will rattle 00:38:02.989 --> 00:38:04.929 by and it'll soon be here, then I'm all ready 00:38:04.929 --> 00:38:08.650 to see ways in which I can use AI to help me 00:38:08.650 --> 00:38:10.849 get some clarity on all these Janet McLarens 00:38:10.849 --> 00:38:14.210 I found. And then I'm also going to, I am going 00:38:14.210 --> 00:38:18.150 to do my photo thing. Yeah. Because so far my 00:38:18.150 --> 00:38:19.710 uncle hasn't complained at me for not giving 00:38:19.710 --> 00:38:21.889 him the albums back, but it's just going to happen. 00:38:21.969 --> 00:38:23.750 And I don't want to put him in that awkward position. 00:38:24.409 --> 00:38:28.260 Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, so I'm definitely, definitely 00:38:28.260 --> 00:38:31.099 doing those two things. Definitely. Okay, I'll 00:38:31.099 --> 00:38:35.139 hold you accountable next week. Okay, okay. Thanks 00:38:35.139 --> 00:38:36.679 for listening, everybody. We hope you have a 00:38:36.679 --> 00:38:39.739 really good week. As ever, please do email in 00:38:39.739 --> 00:38:41.820 if you have any comments or anything you'd like 00:38:41.820 --> 00:38:45.000 to raise and we love hearing from you. And yeah, 00:38:45.000 --> 00:38:47.019 have a good week, Nathan. Thank you, you too. 00:38:47.179 --> 00:38:49.619 And happy researching, everybody. Bye then.