I visited the Hawick Heritage Hub (www.hawickonline.com/heritage-hub) yesterday in order to carry out some research for an urgent overseas client enquiry. The centre took three hours to drive to from the west of Scotland, the Borders having very unique challenges on the navigational front, countered only by its stunning beauty!
The centre is currently the only premises in Scotland offering access to the ScotlandsPeople computer system at an unlimited £15 per day (my nearest centre at Kilmarnock, just 6 miles away from me, remains closed, as is Glasgow, forcing me to head east). If you wish to visit, please be advised that you will need to wear a mask throughout, and that there are only a small number of available terminals (I believe I counted just 5). From all accounts they have been flat out since re-opening, with visitors travelling from as far afield as Ayrshire and Aberdeenshire. You may need to wait a while for a slot! In addition to ScotlandsPeople, the centre does also provide access to the digitised kirk session records, and various other printed resources for the Borders region. (For more info on booking a seat, see my previous post at http://scottishgenes.blogspot.com/2020/10/hawick-heritage-hub-reopens-at-reduced.html)
Incidentally, I did notice an update at the weekend from the Glasgow based registrar's service, posted on September 24th, which does not encourage much optimism (https://www.glasgow.gov.uk/article/17698/Family-History):
Update as at 24 September - There are no immediate plans to re-open the Genealogy Centre at this time. Please continue to visit our website for further updates. This will be reviewed as we enter Phase 4 of the Scottish Government Route map.
As things stand just now, Phase 4 seems a long way away...
Chris
My next 5 week Scotland 1750-1850: Beyond the Old Parish Registers course starts November 2nd - see https://www.pharostutors.com/details.php?coursenumber=302. My book Tracing Your Scottish Family History on the Internet, at http://bit.ly/ChrisPaton-Scottish2 is now out, also available are Tracing Your Irish Family History on the Internet (2nd ed) at http://bit.ly/ChrisPaton-Irish1 and Tracing Your Scottish Ancestry Through Church and State Records at http://bit.ly/ChrisPaton-Scotland1. Further news published daily on The Scottish GENES Facebook page, and on Twitter @genesblog.
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