Liverpool's Albert Dock is a poignant place to visit for it was from here that an extimated nine million people left British soil for the last time as they set sail for emigration to the New World.

Descendants return to this spot from all over the world to be photographed with the Statue of the Emigrant family. On my mother's side my grandfather and great grandfather both had several brothers who emigrated and multiplied in the New World and thus I have common ancestry with many people in Canada, USA, and Australia, most of whom I have never met. I found this a very emotional spot on which to stand.

The family depicted in the statue look out towards the open sea and the Americas, though the ship which we see at the pier today is a local ferry which will make the short trip across the Mersey estuary to the town of Birkenhead on the Wirral Peninsula.

Union Kilt on the waterfront at Liverpool.

There is an interesting display of historic ships at the maritime museum at Albert Dock.

Around the dock the old warehouses have been preserved.

The old warehouses now contain bars, cafes and souvenir shops, known as The Colonnades. This is the touristy bit of Liverpool, the must see for visitors who have British ancestry.