Interesting Cromarty

A beautiful warm and sunny start to the day but if you had a lay in you probably missed the best part of the day. I sat outside enjoying the warmth and watching the birds. Lots of swifts and swallows swooping low over the field or flying high above the rooftops. More baby robins and the first sighting of a baby Great spotted woodpecker. I watched  tree creeper having a preen a mossy dip in the oak tree.
Mid morning we went to Cromarty to join an architectural walk led by David Alston. Very interesting finding out about the history behind the buildings. We now know a lot about gable ends , crowsteps and Thackstanes. I know know that there are different dormer windows, that a lot of the buildings are Gable end to the road further into Cromarty because the plot of lands were narrow. If you had money you could afford two plots and have your house facing the street. As we walked down Church Street the Merchants houses were pointed out. Most are only one room deep but impressive frontage with a front garden often with steps leading up to the front doors.
Down into fishertown we looked at the changes made to the buildings through the years including the addition of Dormer windows so that the loft space could be used. One lady came out of her house to show us an old painting of the lane where she lived. Alot of the houses had been thatched, other evidence of a thatched building are the crowsteps which made it easier for the Thatcher to do his job.
Cromarty is a pretty village with plenty of photo opportunities. A new photography exhibition is now on display in the Old Courthouse.
The rest of the day was a bit of a washout with hailstones later on too.