Most of my research time this week has been taken up with preparing for a winter campaign on the St Oswald’s churchyard front. I have failed miserably to regularly upload headstone photographs to the FamilySearch Shared Tree ­– or to get to grips with volunteering at Billion Graves.  I am now looking to concentrate my forces on supplying photographs to Wiki Tree. I risk getting bogged down again because each photograph I place there will require at least one personal profile to be created.

I have a dream – that I might be able to set up a production line that will see a headstone photo with its transcription and a brief life sketch find a place on three platforms, as if by magic.

Make that four. While nosing around Find a Grave yesterday, I noticed two requests for photographs of graves in Filey churchyard. I had one “in stock” but the second was an unfamiliar name that isn’t listed in the East Yorkshire Family History Society survey books (2014/15).

It was blowing a gale this morning but the rain had yet to arrive. I found stone 2 sheltering in the lee of the north wall.

On the way home, I bumped into an “old Filonian”. On impulse, I asked if he had known Dicky Mint. I received an affirmative nod but had to press to learn that Dicky “always had a story to tell”. No examples were offered, alas.

Back at the ranch, I fired up the computer, joined the Find a Grave community, claimed the two photo requests and fulfilled them straight away. About four hours later I received the first thank you. FaG beats Billion Graves for its “system” being proof against the idiot writing this post. But when I have my system up and running I’ll give BG another go.

I hope to return to telling family stories next week.

Landscape 124 · St Oswald’s & Church Field