Hi Peggy What a wonderful present! And now it's up to you to make the very best of it. I'll leave it to the local Montgomerys to tell what you need to know on transport and accommodation, as distances DO need to be reckoned with, I can assure you. Googling the area will find you artists and art festivals including potters, but you might like to visit Don McNeil and Jean Bell at Fyne Studios in Newton, which may be hard to find, but it's just down the loch from Strachur http://www.fyne-studios.com/direct.htm?=directions.htm They have a wide experience and may be able to help you find what you are loooking for. I have a lovely dvd made by them about their work and showing spots where they work and explaining, for example, the difference in light between Loch Fyne and Loch Eck. Then there's Glensluain Pottery slightly inland above Strachur and three Bridges Pottery near Inveraray for starters. There are also numerous books and sites with photos and stories of the area, which are infinitely enjoyable and will help you plan your journey. I hope to make a similar trip later this year and I know about having to divide the time between different areas of Scotland. Not to mention your husband! Like you, I have roots around Loch Fyne, in Perthshire and the far north east, so it's no easy task to combine. My Dutch husband has no connection with Scotland other than through me, which helps, but, then again, there's a limit to what a non-Scot can take. :-) Beyond the plan, you need time to absorb and walk and become more familiar with the places and people... My first course would be to list the locations on the OPRs and census records down the years, plot them on maps: an overview of Scotland, one of Argyll - and ordnance survey maps of the actual spots. (But if you're like me you'll have done this a hundred times already.) Then it is a case of deciding on the most important places to be, because the family were there for a long time, or a spot has a particular significance. Here you have an advantage, as your main Strachur line was located in one spot, due to the nature of their occupation: the smiddy in (Clachan) Strachur - handy, as the village is easier to reach than my family's homes, all 'close' by but without access by public transport. Your John Montgomery went to Peebles and Perthshire, marrying a lass from the far north, but I understand his grandfather William Montgomery was from Perthshire as well, born around 1776. Dugald Montgomery b1813 and Jane McKenzie were the generation in between at Strachur, John's parents. Dugald was born in Strachur, but by all accounts Jane was from Dunoon, so you have roots there too. I understand there may be descendants living there now, and it is a centre for Cowal. Cathie Montgomery in Strachur is a leading light in the local history society so she can tell you more if anyone can. Did you ever contact the people on Genes Reunited I mentioned? There were at least three focusing on the Strachur Montgomery line, but if you are in touch with Cathie and Colin you may know them as well. The week we spent on Loch Fyne was delightful, though all too short. That was self-catering near Otter Ferry, but we also had one night B & B at a spot in Strathlachlan closely linked to my McVean great grandmother. A moving experience... if very different from byegone days and no sign of the rising damp that must have played havoc with our family's health.... We met up at the Creggans Hotel one night with Sinclair cousins. Great all round. I'd like to stay at my 3x great grandfather's home in Newton, revamped and for rental now, but we'll be towing a caravan this time and, while I would like to home in on Strathlachlan/ Strachur, besides Glendaruel, there are only static sites in the vicinity, so it may be Inveraray or Lochgilphead as a base, which is good for the archives and at least I can see Loch Fyne and the hills above Strathlachlan and explore the west coast as well. Great area, but still a fair trek from Strachur & Strathlachlan. What we need is a boat! We're not going to attempt the far north this trip but I do want to travel through Perthshire and spend a few days near Loch Ussie in Ross-shire...so we have our work cut out and will have to choose. Generally speaking, I would not be surprised if accommodation were at a premium this year, with a probable extra influx of visitors to Scotland for Homecoming 2009. Gravestones may be hard to find, depending on your family. Mine wouldn't have had the wherewithal to have stones placed to commemorate any or all of the relations who died young. And yet...there may be the odd one from the end of the 19th century on. And just when you least expect it, things fall into place. I'd sort of promised my husband we wouldn't hang around (m)any more graveyards - but when we walked past the old burial ground at Strathlachlan HE went straight in. I called out that he needn't bother, as that was only for the McLachlans from the Castle...I thought...but that was precisely the place I found the first stones I'd seen for my any of my McVean family... People's experiences will differ, but I would add that, when we were on the north coast of Sutherland in July 2005, we noticed that B&Bs that were actually open were few and far between. And when self-catering, we learned to plan our forays carefully, and making sure we stocked up on supplies when we were near a shop: good memories of the store at Strachur. It might sound as though all this was lacking in spontaneity. No way. Enjoy! Have fun planning your trip, Peggy, and for you and everyone visiting Scotland, may it be very rewarding. Katie de Haan The Netherlands MCVEAN SINCLAIR MCKELLAR CLARK MITCHELL MCINTYRE Argyll, RFW > LKS MCCALLUM MUNRO BEATON BETHUNE ROSS: Sutherland, Ross & Cromarty > LKS MCCALLUM Perthshire 1700s THACKWELL KEAT Worcs/Oxon/Berks/ KING PALMER LANGSTONE CARR POKINS HUTT Oxon/Berks UK KING JACKSON WEEDON BECKWITH Middlesex/London City/East End UK --Original Message --From: <artistinsc@aol.com>To: <SCT-ARGYLL@rootsweb.com>Sent: Sunday, January 04, 2009 10:14 PM Subject: [ARGYLL] I may be coming to Strachur, Argyll this summer, need advice searching roots, more >I am from SC,USA and am a lurker here and have searched my Argyll roots for 12 years and it has proved fruitful but i am not able to keep up with it as i wish.Nw, my daghter and her spouse have given my husband and I frequent flier miles to go to Scotland and we only have July available and have not had time since getting the gift on New Year's Day. > I am the great great granddaughter of the blacksmith there who's shop is called? "The Smiddy'' and I have had some contact with Cathie there and Colin Montgomery who moved from there but visits on occasion .As a professional artist in my hme state, I teach at museums here and maintain a large pottery and painting studios and now? attend ''tuition free"? for over 60 year olds,classes at the state? university to keep fresh and work on equipment?I do not maintain at? home, like a bronze foundary,blacksmith workshop and printing etching/intaglio presses.?