Dear Paul

This month we start with a genealogical challenge from Family Tree contributor Adele Emm. Adele’s grandma, who was born in 1898, began working in the weaving sheds when she was 12 and here, she met another lady who was to become a lifelong friend. This friendship between the two families continued and has now spanned four generations and in excess of 100 years. I wonder if any of our readers can beat a friendship between families lasting that long? If so, I would love to hear from you.

Weird weather

Back in June, I asked if any of our readers had any weather-related stories and we have two equally bizarre ones for you.

Anthony Reading starts us off with a very unusual story, and although it doesn’t relate to his direct family, it’s a great example of long-held folklore in families and communities.

On a visit to an ancestral farm close to Tregaron in mid Wales in the 1980s, Anthony’s relative mentioned that during one terrible winter, a nearby estate had lost thousands of sheep and the farmer had died shortly afterwards ‘of a broken heart’. At the time, he thought the story related to the 1947 winter, but like all good genealogists, Anthony decided to find out more about the great sheep loss and with a little research, discovered the story