Browse through our blog posts to find out what life is like at Hoe Grange Holidays along with some great ideas for days out in the Peak District.
With instant access to online registry records it has never been easier than now to research your family history. On holiday you will have time to find out who your ancestors were and where they came from. You never know you might discover a skeleton in the cupboard, or be related to royalty!
If you are interested in tracing your ancestry you may find branches of your family tree rooted in here in Derbyshire and the Peak District. Staying in our cosy log cabins or gorgeous glamping pods at Hoe Grange Holidays is an ideal base for further research. As you unravel your personal heritage and family history you can enjoy the dramatic Peak District landscapes and visiting fascinating historical buildings.
Sir Richard Arkwright’s cotton mills were at the heart of the Industrial Revolution and drew their workforce from far and wide. Or maybe your family helped build the networks of railways and canals that connected the factories to the cities.
In our rural setting most families were involved in farming. David’s family all lived locally and were dairy farmers around the Ashbourne area. David's Great Grandfather, John William Brown, was very progressive, customising Model T Fords for farm work. He was an innovator and ahead of his time and featured in several farming publications.
You can trace your ancestry by visiting birth places, work places and churches to discover where you came from and who you are, just like the celebrities do on the BBC programme ‘Who Do You Think You Are?’
Or you can work online.There are lots of ancestral and family tree websites with genealogy records to get you started, such as Find my past or Ancestry.com. It's amazing how quickly you can work back through the generations using the online data.
We recently traced my family tree back to the 1700's in a relatively short time, whereas when my father was working on it he had to physically visit registry offices or wait days for the post to arrive!
If so according to the local saying they were "Derbyshire born, Derbyshire bred, strong int arm - an quick in t'ead"
A good place to start building your family tree is the main family history collection and archives for Derbyshire County which is kept at the Local Studies library in the Derbyshire Record Office.