Member of Ancestral Tourism

Ancestral Tourism is an accredited qualification given to a small number of Scottish bed and breakfast or guesthouse businesses who have proved their ability at helping visitors with the time consuming and enjoyable interest of tracing their ancestors. Indeed I am most fortunate to be a member of this initiative and learn something myself most days.

Genealogy (the tracing of ancestors) has become most popular in the past 5 - 10 years and as a 4 star bed and breakfast in Blairgowrie, Perthshire, Scotland I have attracted my share of these most delightful guests who pursue their interest in a most enthusiastic and cheerful manner. The tenacity of most would shame lesser mortals!

Being a member of Ancestral Tourism ensures any guest staying at Heathpark Lodge will be given as much help as possible with regard to places (such as graveyards, record libraries etc) and at times help finding people. It's so much easier to speak to people local to an area than attempt to find details even on the internet.

Most of my guests have done a great deal of research prior to visiting Scotland, or indeed Perthshire, but usually there are one or two loose ends which can be tied up to make a picture complete. Perhaps I'm lucky because guests from as far a field as Australia, New Zealand, Canada plus the US have stayed with me and before their trip I've known about their quest thanks to the technology of email. Of course that helps me because I can do a little research of my own prior to their arrival and at times save them hours of slogging round churchyards.

So if your desire is to trace your Scottish ancestral roots, do try to stay with someone who is a member of this initiative as they could be quite valuable in your search. I never knew so many of Scottish descent worldwide are still so deeply interested in their roots. It's a pleasure to be part of their quests.