Thanks to recently finding this splendid website I have been helped to make good progress on tracing my descent from a line of Forest miners "the Miles Band". Going beyond the facts of names,dates and occupations has also highlighted that my great-uncle Sydney was the first of this family to enter tertiary education. He trained at St Paul's College, Cheltenham 1902-04, and then taught at Lydbrook. Again thanks to a contributor, I found the link to a Pathe News report of the 1934 visit of the Duke of Kent to Lydbrook; it shows Sydney walking with the Duke to meet miners who had helped in the creation of the recreation ground.I have a photo of that day but seeing the film was very moving. My father often spoke warmly of uncle Syd's part in that project and I wonder if others with Lydbrook links have more on it?

Sadly Sydney and his wife Mary only had one child, David, who died in infancy. Through my father I inherited some of Sydney's books which testify to his scholarship. Sydney died in 1943; some 20 years later there were two of his Miles relations at Hull University, one being Frank who read History and went on to teach in Reading and me, now a part-time university tutor in Psycholgy.

Of course all Forest families have similar stories of increasing educational attainment but if others can add to Sydney Miles' record I should be most grateful.