Edinburgh - Scotland - page 134

One of the best guides is Tracing Your Scottish Ancestry by Kathleen B Cory, and there are many useful web-
sites; GenUKI ( www.genuki.org.uk ) is a good starting point. Ancestry ( www.ancestry.co.uk ) is another.
At the excellent ScotlandsPeople ( www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk ) website you can search the indexes to Old
Parish Registers and Statutory Registers as well as census returns, on a pay-per-view basis. FamilySearch (fam-
ilysearch.org) includes freely searchable records of Scottish baptisms and marriages.
The following places in Edinburgh can help out:
ScotlandsPeople Centre ( 0131-314 4300; www.scotlandspeoplehub.gov.uk ; 2 Princes St; 9am-4.30pm
Mon-Fri) The main records used in Scottish genealogical research - the Statutory Registers of births, marriages
and deaths (1855 to the present), the Old Parish Registers (1533−1854) and the 10-yearly census returns from
1841 to 1901 - are held here. The registration of births, marriages and deaths became compulsory in Scotland on
1 January 1855; before that date, the ministers of the Church of Scotland kept registers of baptisms and marriages.
The oldest surviving parish registers date back to 1553, but these records are far from complete, and many births
and marriages before 1855 went unrecorded. Records of wills and testaments, valuation rolls and coats of arms
can also be searched. Daily search fee is £15 and there are tutorial sessions available.
Scottish Genealogy Society Library ( 0131-220 3677; www.scotsgenealogy.com ; 15 Victoria Tce; guests/
members £5/free; 10am-5pm Mon-Thu & Sat) Maintains the world's largest library of Scottish gravestone in-
scriptions and a comprehensive records and family history collection.
Activities
Walking
Edinburgh is lucky to have several good walking areas within the city boundary, including
Arthur's Seat, Calton Hill, Blackford Hill, Hermitage of Braid, Corstorphine Hill and the
coast and river at Cramond. The Pentland Hills , which rise to over 500m, stretch southw-
est from the city for 15 miles, offering excellent high- and low-level walking.
You can follow the Water of Leith Walkway from the city centre to Balerno (8 miles),
and continue across the Pentlands to Silverburn (6.5 miles) or Carlops (8 miles), and re-
turn to Edinburgh by bus. Another good walk is along the Union Canal towpath , which
begins in Fountainbridge and runs all the way to Falkirk (31 miles). You can return to Ed-
inburgh by bus at Ratho (8.5 miles) or Broxburn (12 miles), and by bus or train from Lin-
lithgow (21 miles).
Cycling
Edinburgh and its surroundings offer many excellent opportunities for cycling (see
www.cyclingedinburgh.info and www.cycling-edinburgh.org.uk ). The main off-road
routes from the city to the countryside follow the Union Canal towpath then the Water