Twiglets

Like most family historians I’m happiest beavering away quietly in the densest parts of my tree, trying to cut a path through the tangliest branches and piece together all of those tiny details, coincidences and connections that eventually tell a tale and bring our ancestors to life. The majority of the time these are the ordinary (although, to each one of us, always extraordinary) lives of spinners, weavers, farmers, labourers, miners, metalworkers, Uncle Tom Cobbley and all.

But occasionally there’s a bigger story that’s desperate to get out and be heard, which is why, to kick off the new year,