No guesses . . .

. . . where this was taken, nor where we are going tomorrow. But that’s only part of the story.

When I suggested to Gordon and his sisters, a few years ago now, that I look into the history of their mother’s side of the family, they were very interested, but soon realised that they knew very little about their grandfather, not surprising as he died before they were born. They did seem to think that he was born in Scotland and it didn’t take much research, plus a few certificates, to confirm this. And he was born in a place that surprised and pleased Gordon, but that’s a story for another time.

I traced the family back through the generations, as they moved from place to place in South West Scotland. But eventually it was revealed that their great, great grandfather was born in Northern Ireland and he brought his family to settle in Scotland in the 1840s. I gradually pieced together some clues and nine years ago we made a trip to the Archives in Belfast to look through parish registers. It was a great moment when we found a marriage - there they were on the page.

Today we returned to a brand new, very smart, PRONI - Public Record Office of Northern Ireland - and spent a happy few hours poring over micro-films and maps in an effort to fill in some gaps. We did.

When we had finished we had a wander round the Titantic Quarter. Later we are collecting our daughter and son-in-law from the airport (they are flying from Heathrow), we are all staying at the Malmaison and then tomorrow we ‘do’ Belfast!!