Life in the area during WWI - opportunities
Wartime brought opportunities as well as hardship. The old mill in Rosemarkie was converted into a laundry just before the war, and renamed Ootsey. During WWI it was run by John Robb, who also owned a local inn and shop. He expanded the business with state-of-the-art equipment, and held several contracts with military establishments at Fort George, Cromarty, Invergordon and Inverness.
Laundry came across the ferry from Fort George, and was then carted to Rosemarkie. John Robb employed 26 workers, 20 of them women, and a number of carters. Laundry would be dried along the shore, as far as the lighthouse.
Photo: Rosemarkie Connections by Freda Bassindale (2015). Photo courtesy of Grace MacKenzie
