Day trip from Glasgow to visit family locations
Jul 8th, 2014, 12:57 PM
#1
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Day trip from Glasgow to visit family locations
Hi,
I am looking for advice on planning a day out of Glasgow to visit areas in Stirlingshire, and South Lanarkshire. There are 4 of us, and the areas are where my husband's mother's family came from.
I have contacted a couple of guides to see about hiring someone, and not had a lot of luck so far. My ideal would be someone familiar with the areas and able to take the historical dates and events I have found and place them into a local historical context. Maybe I am hoping for the moon.
Worst case, we rent a car and drive around the areas.
If anyone has any tips or advice, I would welcome them.
Thanks.
I am looking for advice on planning a day out of Glasgow to visit areas in Stirlingshire, and South Lanarkshire. There are 4 of us, and the areas are where my husband's mother's family came from.
I have contacted a couple of guides to see about hiring someone, and not had a lot of luck so far. My ideal would be someone familiar with the areas and able to take the historical dates and events I have found and place them into a local historical context. Maybe I am hoping for the moon.
Worst case, we rent a car and drive around the areas.
If anyone has any tips or advice, I would welcome them.
Thanks.
Jul 8th, 2014, 01:33 PM
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A real local might offer more helpful advice than this, but let's see:
There is an institution called the Scottish Tourist Guides Association (http://www.stga.co.uk/), which sounds a bit as if it meets your brief.
I don't think it does, though. The guide will take you through Stirlingshire and bits of Lanarkshire and will tell you an awful lot about Stirling, about Bannockburn, about New Lanark, and about almost everything normal tourists might want to know about that bit of Central Scotland.
But is that what you really want to know about? I suspect you really want to know about everyday life in Denny, or Wishaw, or Kilsyth in the early 20th century: the factories, the schools, how life was for your mother.
In a society as history-ridden as core Britain (or core Italy, or core France) there aren't such guides - though Glasgow itself has a lot of easily-accessible information about the city a century or so ago. Guides tell you (except in Britain's nostalgia capitals of Liverpool, Glasgow and Newcastle) about the official history of monarchs and prime ministers
I think you need to hire a car (as we say in English) yourselves - pausing only to find a source for local newspapers (easiest actually in the British Library in London, whose local newspaper collection is now almost fully digitised) to get a glimpse of how that community functioned in your husband's mother's time.
There is an institution called the Scottish Tourist Guides Association (http://www.stga.co.uk/), which sounds a bit as if it meets your brief.
I don't think it does, though. The guide will take you through Stirlingshire and bits of Lanarkshire and will tell you an awful lot about Stirling, about Bannockburn, about New Lanark, and about almost everything normal tourists might want to know about that bit of Central Scotland.
But is that what you really want to know about? I suspect you really want to know about everyday life in Denny, or Wishaw, or Kilsyth in the early 20th century: the factories, the schools, how life was for your mother.
In a society as history-ridden as core Britain (or core Italy, or core France) there aren't such guides - though Glasgow itself has a lot of easily-accessible information about the city a century or so ago. Guides tell you (except in Britain's nostalgia capitals of Liverpool, Glasgow and Newcastle) about the official history of monarchs and prime ministers
I think you need to hire a car (as we say in English) yourselves - pausing only to find a source for local newspapers (easiest actually in the British Library in London, whose local newspaper collection is now almost fully digitised) to get a glimpse of how that community functioned in your husband's mother's time.
Jul 8th, 2014, 02:35 PM
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Flanneruk, you are correct about what I am looking for and your suggestion for local newspapers is great!
There were no monarchs but there were miners, and I was wondering if the mining museum near Edinburgh would fit into the day or need a day on its own if we wanted to go there.
Thanks.
There were no monarchs but there were miners, and I was wondering if the mining museum near Edinburgh would fit into the day or need a day on its own if we wanted to go there.
Thanks.
Jul 8th, 2014, 02:56 PM
#4
Which towns/villages? If it was me and I was ancestor hunting in that area, I wouldn't stay in Glasgow. (Visiting Glasgow for its own sites is fine - but not as a base for touring the countryside)
How long are you in Glasgow? I seriously consider staying a night or two in the area you want to explore - w/ a rental car.
Because of where the mining museum is -- it would better combine w/ a visit to the Borders or to Edinburgh.
How long are you in Glasgow? I seriously consider staying a night or two in the area you want to explore - w/ a rental car.
Because of where the mining museum is -- it would better combine w/ a visit to the Borders or to Edinburgh.
Jul 8th, 2014, 04:30 PM
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Janisj, it probably would have made some sense to plan a night between Glasgow and Edinburgh, but we were trying to not move each night if we could avoid it. This is also the only day we are considering driving ourselves, it is trains for most of the travel and Rabbies for a 5 day tour.
Maybe we will leave the mining museum for one of the days we are in Edinburgh instead.
Maybe we will leave the mining museum for one of the days we are in Edinburgh instead.
