'I chase our ancestry while my son chases storms'

An American storm chaser has visited the Isle of Man with his mum, to help her discover more about their family history, rooted on Manx soil.

Reed Timmer, who featured on US television show Storm Chasers, flew to the island for the first time with his mother to find out about their ancestors, originally from Peel.

Reed's mother, Susan Tolbert said it had been "fascinating and sort of surreal" to see the building in Jurby, where her great-great grandfather was born.

Keen to join her on the trip, Reed said: "It's awesome helping her with her passion, just like she helped me with mine."

As well as visiting the former home of Susan's great great grandfather, James Andrew Killey, they had been to various locations where family lived and worked in Peel.

"As far as we can tell, my great great grandfather was a tailor and prior to that they seemed to be farmers and mariners," she said.

But she said their history on the island went "a lot further back" than they realised, and they had been able to look at "original documents from the late 1600s" in museum archives.

Susan said leaving the island she would be taking away "a kind of essence of who we are and where we came from and that's been wonderful.

"It's a part of who we are, no matter how far away we get."

The trip was a change of pace for Reed, who lives "on the road" chasing storms.

"I've seen over a thousand tornadoes and 80 or 90 hurricanes," he explained.

But the Manx pilgrimage had been "kind of like a big storm chase" for his mum, Reed said. "She's just having a field day up here."

He said he had been "blown away" by the island's "natural beauty" and its history.

"It's fascinating, I love tracing it back, seeing the pictures. There's so much history here," he said.

And the meteorologist was able to see the Northern Lights from Peel during their stay.

He said viewing the spectacle left him on "cloud nine" and he described the experience as "one of the best nights of my life".

The pair said they would love to return in the future, and Reed said he was particularly interested in the TT Races.

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