Date: 24^th May 2023

Genealogical-related research work to find out more about an ancestor and his family. John Loudon McAdam (23 September 1756 – 26 November 1836) was the Scottish civil engineer and road builder who invented a new process, “macadamisation”.

Diary notes

John McAdam’s wife, Glorianna has a plaque high on the cloisters wall of Bristol Cathedral. This great medieval church has been a sanctuary for almost 900 years. That spring day, we visited her, along with his work premises in Small Street and Park Street or more accurately the locations where they would have once been. I loved Berkeley Square with its handsome town houses and leafy park and Sion Place with its wide, ironwork balconcies facing the Suspension Bridge. How wonderful to live in one of those places if you’re a city dweller.

However, the thing I will always remember is a family friend, on Sion Hill. We were looking for John McAdam’s address and stood directly in front of the most likely house. She looked up at this grand dwelling and said, ‘I used to work in one of these big houses perhaps even this very one we’re looking at. It’s hard for me to remember but it definitely had a huge balcony like this one.’ How weird is that?

‘A building, site or piece of land has its own memory, consciousness or frequency as does a person, animal or bird. Usually when high emotion has been experienced, the resonance gets trapped and takes on a life of its own.’