Genealogy Chat

I've just done a whistle stop tour of rellies known stamping grounds and was rather disappointed. The old graveyards didn't have any memorials (now realise by the ornate-ness of the memorials that they wouldn't have had the money). Some churches were now derelict and others hadn't been built at the time my rellies would have worshipped there. Worst though was recent history. Hospital my eldest was born in is now an Old People's Home as was the school my husband went to. His old home was now a car park with a public loo built in exact spot (nice loo with attendant - but cost 20p for both sexes!!!!) Makes you wonder what will be left for our descendants to see!!!!

know exactly what you mean so all of you get out with your cameras now. i learnt the church i was married in in 1979 was being demolished got the photo now but so many roads and places have gone its very sad brenda x

I sympathise I really do - A couple of weeks ago I went down to Northamptonshire and Bedfordshire to take photos I thought of the houses my family were born in. I found the first two with the help of a lady in the village who was also doing her family tree and she let me take photos of the now derelict cottages on her grounds. There was nothing in the graveyard there and the weather was so apalling we kept getting diverted around the country lanes with flood warnings so the whole trip was a bit of a disaster. One village where I had quite a few cottages to see (hopefully) is now half the size it was and the houses are no longer there. Like you say, it does make you think whether there will be anything left ! Mary

we have also visited cark parks etc, where houses of ancestors once stood. In Scotland we went to a place and found the address we wanted, house looked old and tatty, but we were informed by a local that the houses hadn't been up as long as we thought, so the originals must have been pulled down and replaced, still we took a photo. Val

I quite enjoy visiting places and areas where ancestors had lived even when there is little trace. You can still often get a "feel" of the area that is not possible fromk

I quite enjoy visiting places and areas where ancestors had lived even when there is little trace. You can still often get a "feel" of the area that is not possible from a distance. I also always have a look around local shops, museums etc and often find interesting booklets that you will not be able to get outside the immediate area. Occasionally there is the thrill of finding a house still there or a gravestone. Martin

I've just returned from a day in London finding places my and my husband's family lived in. Quite a lot has gone, but there were still some original houses (though until I check I don't of course know that the numbering is the same). Very pleased to find the shop my dad's family ran in Stoke Newington Church Street, which was then a picture framers, and is now a bike shop. Most of my relies were too poor for gravestones, but they do deteriorate, so I am very pleased that I photgraphed my gt grandparent's memorial stone in Norfolk when I was 11 (the camera was a birthday present). nell