Driving Through My Family History

On Monday morning, I left Peebles to head to Edinburgh. I had a couple of stops in Glasgow before making my way to the hotel in Edinburgh where I was to meet up with this Tour's participants. 

After leaving Glasgow, I ended up taking the 'Scenic' route, or the route through the countryside, rather than driving the M8. This was such a fascinating drive as it took me through the places where my ancestors had lived. 

I drove past the exit for Coatbridge where my aunty lived (and my cousin still does!), past the exit for Shotts, where my mum's family lived for three generations and where several are buried, through Carluke where my dad's ancestor was a land overseer. I passed through Carnwath (a much larger place than I had imagined) where my maternal line had lived and where children had been born. 

As I drove past each exit to an ancestral town or village, or as I drove through an ancestral town or village, I was able to conjure up the names of the people who had lived there, wondering what their lives had been like at the time. It was a lovely drive between Scotland's two largest cities, and a terrific way to connect with the people whose lives I have been researching the past 15 years.