Fortrose & Rosemarkie Image Library

Camping Coach, Fortrose, July 1958

This photo is part of a series taken during a family holiday at Fortrose in July 1958. We travelled from Edinburgh, the full party being my Mum, Dad and 7 children (ages ranging from 2 year to 12 years). The family trunk, with all our holiday clothes, was sent up a few days beforehand to await our arrival. Goodness knows what we wore in the interim - probably we were kept in our pyjamas for a few days! The journey included a steam train journey from Waverley Station with us always remembering to throw some coins, for "Good Luck", into the River Forth as we crossed the Forth Rail Bridge. The train stopped at Muir of Ord where we had to await the bus to Fortrose. We always had a struggle with my younger brother, Phil, who did not like crossing the footbridge over the tracks having got engulfed in smoke once when a steam train went underneath as we were crossing. I have memories of us being deposited by the wall at the hotel to await the bus while my Mum and Dad took a few minutes to get a well deserved refreshment at the Hotel. My Mum, now in her 90s, hotly disputes that they would ever do such a thing - they would only having been checking the bus times! In today�s world no doubt someone would have informed the Social Work department. When we arrived at Fortrose we all trekked to the Camping Coach. To the locals, we must have looked like "The Broons" going to the But and Ben.

The contributor is on the left in front of my Dad.