b.Radwell?

When we first moved to Bedfordshire the most notable thing about Radwell was the fact that my Grandma's family had once lived here. Her Grandad was born in Radwell and a few generations before him had settled here. He, Frederick, was the 7th child in a family of eleven and it's not hard to imagine them all playing out on the (only) road in the village in the same way that Joe and Isaac do (fewer bikes).

Furnished with census returns for that period (thanks Dad) its possible to glean a few facts and guess at where they might have lived and what their days might have been like. The men were mostly Agricultural Labourers and the women Lacemakers, although Fred seems to have been the only one to leave a trail, turning up many years later as a Shoemaker in a neighbouring village. (The Agricultural Revolution playing a part methinks (hesitantly) and perhaps the others leaving trails in newly industrialised parts or even America - more research (and history lessons) required.)

Now, as we start our search for a more permanent place, I wonder whether this baby will be b.Radwell like it's Great, great, great Grandfather and about the very different micro social and economic reasons that might determine it, (then again, maybe Felmersham's just got a better pub!)