Repairing a roof near Poolewe, 1890

Repairing a roof near Poolewe, 1890

ID: QZP99_93033_02_03 DESCRIPTION: Children, some barefoot, look on as the roof of their house is repaired. A thatched roof was based on a wooden frame resting on the cottage walls. Thatch was cheap and also light so it did not put unnecessary weight stress on the walls. An overlapping layer of heathery turf was placed over the frame and covered by a layer of thatch. Barley straw was regarded as the best material for thatching. Heather, moor grass, broom, rushes and bracken were also used. The thatch was secured with old fishing net or twine tied to large rocks to anchor it. In exposed districts, and especially in the south and west, the thatch was often further secured by means of rods laid along the roof. In this image the whole roof has been secured by horizontal lines of evenly spaced rods. Hazel rods were often used for this purpose, and were secured by loops of split and twisted hazel twigs. In most places the roof was re-thatched each year. The old thatch was generally used as fertiliser. This image comes from a collection gifted to Edinburgh Central Library by Dr Isabel F. Grant. The collection includes photographs taken by a number of different photographers. PLACENAME: Poolewe DISTRICT: Gairloch OLD COUNTY/PARISH: ROSS: Gairloch DATE OF IMAGE: 1890 PERIOD: 1890s SOURCE: Edinburgh and Scottish Collection, Edinburgh Central Library COLLECTION: I F Grant Photographic Archive Asset ID: 38415 KEYWORDS: