Johnny from New York

Hi Diana,

I can confirm, Maria does have a taste for drama! she loves English crime and spy programmes. Ask her about the 'Sand-Baggers and Midsomer Murders! 

Hi Stephanie,

That would be somewhat ironic if my side came from that area.  I'm currently working on a book on a Second World War pilot by the name of Eric Lock who hailed from Shrewsbury in Shropshire (actually Bayston Hill on the southern edge of Shrewsbury).  Wish I could have made it to that area of the country as well.  Furture trips!

It is a great area - not too far from me. Our Wheelers were mainly from Chelmarsh. They owned a farm - my mother and sister visited the farm and the owners let them have a look round. There was even a will left which my sister managed to get a copy of. Intriguing story though - the daughter had obviously had our ancestor out of wedlock (only one name on the birth certificate) and her father seems to have left the man who married her some money in his will. Whether he was the father we will never know. Her two sons moved to Belper Derby for a time and then they moved to Netherton in the Black Country with a group of families from Derby and they became horse show nail makers. There is an area in Netherton called Belper Row in Darby End where they all settled.

Good luck with the book.