Genealogy Chat

I stumbled across this the other day, I knew you could see ariel views of streets, but now you can see the actual houses.
I found it interesting looking at the propertys my grandparents were bought up in at the turn of the centary (most still standing).
I had heard of the house my mum grew up in during the war and assumed it had been pulled down, but put in the address and it was still there. Well it kept me ammused for a few hours

jax

Is it Street View you are using? We have found it really interesting looking at the houses of lots of people we know but whose houses we have never visited. I can spend ages on it (I'm nosey really!!)

Kath. x

Yes thats the one, I need to find my address book and do the same. I looked up my ex husbands partners house and actually saw her standing at her kitchen window lol

jax

Hi Jax,

Please tell me how to access this.

Many Ta`s
Kathlyn

Just type in Google Maps, when you get the map of england, type an address in the search bar above it, then just click and drag the little orange man to wherever on the map it shows your address is, keeps me occupied for hours.

All I did was put in google maps uk then just add the address in the bar, when map comes up double click on the arrow then it says street view click on that and move it around to where you want to look

jax

Many thanks for that,

Kathlyn

They filmed our Close last week - waiting for it to appear on the website.

We were in the lounge at the time and I saw something flash past the side window. It was a hatchback with this huge frame mounted on the roof with a large square camera on top. It reversed immediately and was gone within seconds.

hello yes its great i,ve looked at where i used to lve in london it,s changed so much and now looking at yhe districets where the ancesters lived make sure you have plenty of timr you will be glued for hours sally w

Thanks jax, found it really interesting stayed up till 5.30 in morning looking. Best bit was when I went down my road, there I was (know exact date) I was putting food into my car to take to my retirement party, so suppose I will be there for ever and ever lol. (funny I did not spot vehicle taking it)
Carol

I have only lived in this house 6 months so when I looked at my previous address partners car was outside, but when I went to where he worked it was there too. When looking for ancestors houses London has been quite good apart from the odd one,which is now a car park or a supermarket but the villiages in hertfordshire and cambridgeshire I think most have been pulled down so just nice country lanes to look at

jax

nudge for evening
sally w

You can also use the same facility on Google Earth. You need to have street view ticked.

Christine

Know what you mean Jax, was quite frustrated when viewing lovely old houses in London only to find the one you wanted was replaced with a block of flats.
Carol

Thanks for the info. I spent a really fascinating 2 hours. Great for nosey parkers!!

My family love the site and younger members think it's hilarious to see Grandad walking (all alone) down the main road!

google street view can also be an invasion of privacy. Where I live there are many 'roads' where the front of the house looks onto grass and the houses are accessed by the rear.
When the car came around our area last year it had a camera on a pole approx 10-12 feet in the air and photographed everything in our gardens, even over a 2m fence. You can see everything in our gardens that we want to keep hidden. For that reason I have had to have the image removed.
The view of houses on a 'normal' street are not invasive and that is ok, but google should have been more respectful. Many elderly people cannot access the internet to view their property, let alone have the image removed.

I had to ask google to remove it, it took 6 days for their answer and they did not have to remove it. I am glad they did

I love ours - the cat has managed to be posing on the drive, attention seeking as ever!
Jan

Hi cheryl
Really I think they ought to warn people they are doing this, because as you say it is an invasion of privacy.
Where I used to live we didnt have back gardens just a small one at the front where a lot of us put up washing lines. This street was a cul de sac so quite private and I dont think I would have been too happy if my smalls were on display to the world or caught sunbathing in my bikini which a few years ago I did

jax

Be warned if you are looking for an address where you think an ancestor lived and you have never been there, that the house number that Street View says you are looking at is not correct. I have looked for several houses which I know, and found that the house number it tells me I am looking at is usually several numbers out e.g. I am looking at number 2 but it says I am looking at number 6.

Tina