I went on a trip today and visited the grave of an ancestor. Yes, that may seem a little weird, or maybe even morbid, to those who haven't done so before. I'm not going to lie, graveyards are not the easiest places to navigate (especially in Wales, they tend to be half-way up a mountain,) but if you allow yourself to travel between (and sometimes over, again, difficult to navigate,) the different graves to find the one with significance to you, you can sometimes find gems of information.
Gravestones (and are) a way of creating a memorial to those who have died, sometimes this can be touching and personal, sometimes simple and plain. Often, they can provide details of relations, death dates, ages, and addresses. The stone itself can also give you an idea of your family's circumstances - many poor people could not afford a stone, whilst the rich would have ostentatious monuments, or a memorial in pride of place within the church itself (I think this made them feel they were closer to God, or maybe just that their family could point out the memorial to the entire congregation every Sunday.)
If graveyards freak you out, and I know that they do freak out a lot of people, then you could always focus on the church or village your ancestor(s) would have seen and walked in throughout their lives. A little connection to the life that came before.
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