My husband happily announced that he was off on holiday for one day at the dinner table one evening. When was this momentous event to take place…The very next day and he had no plans but was more than happy to go along with whatever I suggested. Oh dear.
His face was a picture when I told him what I had in mind. I don’t do genealogy research as close to home, in Angus Scotland, very often, so I jumped at the chance of doing some follow-up work to add to the pages within my family tree package. The   lady whose family tree I was researching had very strong links to several Angus towns and villages and I thought it would be a nice touch to get some photographs to add to her ancestors stories.
That is how my husband and I came to be traipsing around cemeteries and church graveyards in some beautiful old places. First stop was Fern, by Brechin. This isn’t a huge churchyard and we quickly located and photographed one of my client’s great grandparents’ gravestones. I could see my husband’s wheels turning... She is no David Bailey. A couple of quick shots of non moving models, we will be home in no time. So back to Forfar then? Well, yes, actually I had planned on going to Newmonthill cemetery and I knew exactly where I was going because I had already checked out the location beforehand. Easy and it took all of five minutes. Home for coffee? It was looking a bit overcast so I suggested a run out to Dunnichen Church, it is only 4 miles outside of Forfar, before the rain came. We hadn’t even reached the outskirts of Forfar before the first drops hit the car but it was only drizzle so we pressed on. I didn’t have the same luck here. The gravestones are harder to read because their condition has deteriorated with the passing of time and weather, although I found two that shared the same surname as my clients’ ancestors so I took more photographs. Perhaps we should go to the new cemetery? It was a steady drizzle now so my husband suggested we each take a section and search more methodically. He even held the umbrella over the camera when I took photographs of several graves.
Guthrie Church then? Hadn’t I noticed the steady downpour, how many more cemeteries did I have planned (well if we could just visit Friockheim no I didn’t dare) and hadn’t I noticed that we were both  pretty damp? Yes, but Guthrie village isn’t far, just a drive through Letham village and we are nearly there. I didn’t have any luck here at all.
That afternoon after a shower and coffee my husband sat with his feet up watching sport and I downloaded all the photographs and added them to my now finished family tree report.
My client was thrilled with the addition of the photographs. I was happy to oblige and the fact that I have never seen a cemetery or graveyard in the whole of Angus that isn’t well looked after and cared for is an added bonus and my husband… He says that he will give me more notice next time that he decides to take a day off.
He got off lightly really. There are 73 burial locations listed in Angus, of which 15 are classified as cemeteries and the remainder as churchyards.
Breaking this down:
In the Arbroath, Carnoustie, Monifieth and Sidlaw area there are 21 locations.
In the Forfar, Kirriemuir and The Glens area there are 30 locations.
In the Brechin and Montrose area there are 22 burial locations.