Cromarty Image Library

A moment frozen in time. what a wonderful photograph. I could look at it for hours picking out the details of a long gone way of life.

From what my Mam and Granny recalled about that life - it was harsh. Granny lost 2 babies in infancy. No running water and no toilets. They, and other families, used buckets, which were emptied on to the beach.
There's nothing romantic about poverty.
Look at early school photos on this site. See how many children had no shoes.

The families in the vennels worked hard, but what a contrast in their lives to the lives of those who lived in the elegant Georgian mansions in the town.

Thank God that way of life is long gone!

Yes Margaret You are absolutely right I grew up in Jemimaville and we had no running water or sanitation water was collected from the pump in the centre of the village in buckets and the "Loo" was a bucket that was indeed emptied on the beach. This situation continued the entire time I lived there and beyond. Thankfully we all survived, people today don't know they are born.

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