Manson - Tansfield

[Kingetter]

(I can't see this being the original property - there is one further round to left but not easily accessible without going up this driveway)

[Rhandy]

Hi Kingetter,
Thank you so much for the pics. This is the house my ggggrandmother was born in and its still standing. I am gobsmacked. It must have a terrific history.
I am indebted to you and Jamie S ,as he sent me pics of her grave. The people in Caithness are wonderful. Fred is also a fountain of knowledge.
Hugs to you all.
Cheers
Rhandy

[Thumper]

Hi Kingetter,you are right that isn't the original Hayfield house.The original is up the dirt track road just on the left of Tansfield House, as far as I am aware anyway. I am not sure if it is still in use etc but i think it is(don't quote me on that though lol) Anyway great pics and well done x

[Kingetter]

Thanks Thumper. Another time I'll try and get a closer look.

This might be of interest to Rhandy as a guide to location. This pic is taken just along the road a short distance from Tansfield House and gives mileages on the sign.

2 more pics to follow which Thumper will certainly identify.

[Kingetter]

I believe these two buildings were described by Thumper -

[Thumper]

Oh Kingetter those are my 2 favourite buildings in the whole county!Always said if I win the lottery I would buy and restore them There are some lovely houses in castletown,another of my favs is up at Olrig, we used to call it the liqorice hoosie because it was painted balck and white, it was renovated a few years back and it's lovely but if memory serves me well it no longer has the balck and white paintwork,but I may be wrong there as I often am x

[Kingetter]

Maybe you'd like to give the details (again?) of the two properties you like so much?

Also, give me some directions to the Olrig place and, if I'm able to, I'll try and get pics - no promises mind.

James.

[trinkie]

Lazy Sunday afternoon, sitting reading an old Edinburgh Magazine c. 1970 and this story caught my eye.........

'' Memories of Caithness'' by W.A. A.

Reminiscing is an indulgence but it is hoped that these early memories may be of interest to others.

I was born in Wick but my mother flitted to Castletown when my father a doctor, died of typhus fever contracted from a foreign ship in the harbour.I was the eldest of three and the year was 1894. These recollections derive from a stay of some two years at that time and subsequent holidays in the village.

We lived at Tansfield next the doctor who was Forsyth by name and married soon after our arrival. I was pleased to meet his son, an ex-service medical student at Edinburgh, after the First World War. There was a large rookery opposite the house which had a fascination for me and a poor joke was that there was a fellow-feeling as my mother was one of a big family of Crowes !


end of quote.

trinkie

[Kingetter]

Lazy Sunday afternoon, sitting reading an old Edinburgh Magazine c. 1970 and this story caught my eye.........

'' Memories of Caithness'' by W.A. A.

Reminiscing is an indulgence but it is hoped that these early memories may be of interest to others.

I was born in Wick but my mother flitted to Castletown when my father a doctor, died of typhus fever contracted from a foreign ship in the harbour.I was the eldest of three and the year was 1894. These recollections derive from a stay of some two years at that time and subsequent holidays in the village.

We lived at Tansfield next the doctor who was Forsyth by name and married soon after our arrival. I was pleased to meet his son, an ex-service medical student at Edinburgh, after the First World War. There was a large rookery opposite the house which had a fascination for me and a poor joke was that there was a fellow-feeling as my mother was one of a big family of Crowes !


end of quote.

trinkie

Trinkie, fascinating and, what timing eh? However, for me, it raises more questions.
1) Who is living in Tansfield?
2) Who is W.A.A. ?
3) Are we sure Tansfield was the 'Doctor's House'? Is that something more recent? Is it coincidence that a Doctor lived next door? The house next door (or one I photographed) is smaller than Tansfield so I'm wondering if it was only a Doctors home?

Thumper - where are you?

James.

[Scunner]

Also, give me some directions to the Olrig place and, if I'm able to, I'll try and get pics - no promises mind.

I think you mean 'the lodge' It was renovated several years ago, but still retains some of its character. ie window in the corner and a round window in the side.

Tansfield is a few hundred yards past Castletown School, on the road to Wick. The doctors house is the second one of the big old houses. The doctors practised in this house for many years, until the new surgery was built in the Back Street, near Icetech.

[Thumper]

Sorry Kingetter I jsut didn't notice your reply! I haven't left you honest Scunner has given you the right directions for the "liqourice hoosie" as I fondly called it,I used to play in it as a child-which was madness as the floors were all rotted away!RE Tansfield, I have heard that that whole area was reffered to as Tansfield long ago but I am unsure as to how accurate that info is...........x

[Kingetter]

I don't know who's my Shepherd
That leads me astray
Up garden paths and elsewhere
For I started with Tansfield
& I found Hayfield House
Only it wasn't there
Now in my quest I've 'the lodge' to locate
Is that the Wick side of Tansfield?
I'm really quite lost.
So back I must go and look once again
And soon or else senility will have claimed me for sure.

[Thumper]

Well done Kingetter!You are quite the poet!The lodge is up past the primary school as though you were going to Durran, but it's only about 1/4 a mile past the school...you can't miss it it is at the bottom of the road to Olrig House and the round window is a dead giveaway lol!x

[Scunner]

'The Lodge' is on the right hand side, on the way between Castletown School and Durran. Its on a sharp corner and beside it is a sign for Olrig House. It was occupied in the fifties/ early sixties and then fell into disrepair. There is another Lodge on the way to the Olrig Radio masts. I remember it also being occupied about the same time.

[Kingetter]

"Thumper: Well done Kingetter!You are quite the poet!The lodge is up past the primary school as though you were going to Durran, but it's only about 1/4 a mile past the school...you can't miss it it is at the bottom of the road to Olrig House and the round window is a dead giveaway lol!x"



"Scunner: 'The Lodge' is on the right hand side, on the way between Castletown School and Durran. Its on a sharp corner and beside it is a sign for Olrig House. It was occupied in the fifties/ early sixties and then fell into disrepair. There is another Lodge on the way to the Olrig Radio masts. I remember it also being occupied about the same time."

Well, that's certainly a road I've not been up before and so, just to verify, here's a map on which I've indicated where I think you are referring to.
I see Hayfield on the map - would that be where 'the original House' would be?
Also, if I get to this Durran road, is the building I'm aiming for the "liqourice hoosie", or am I still blundering about in the 'dark'?

Lastly, is there anything/where else I should include in my David Bailey Impression Act?

(Another fine mess I've got myself into)

James

[Thumper]

Kingetter,you are a star!Yes that's where the liquorice hoosie is...iam sure you will love it It's not quite the same as it used to be but it is nice to see it being lived in!Also yes that is where the original Hayfield house is situated.When you are up that way you may like to pop to the cemetary to see the selkie's grave if you haven't done so before?It is amazing!Haven't been in years but even in the drought of the 70's it was still WET x

[Kingetter]

Am I really 'getting there'? Sheeeeeeesh!

Well, first opportunity and I'll have a go. I'll admit to some interest in the selkies grave - but as I have mobility problems, it may not be too easy. Can you fill me in with any info that would help identify it?

I'm still not clear as to whether the house on the right of Tansfield in my pics is 'significant' - am I right that that was not the Doctor's house?

James.

[Thumper]

As far as I am aware the house to the right of tansfield house was never a doctor's house but again, I may be wrong.The selkie's grave may be hard to reach if you have mobility problems,depending on how bad they are..am I right in thinking you have problems with walking?If not you may be able to make it as long as you take it slowly.You have to go to the oldest graveyard...on your left as you drive up from the school,there is a board at the front describing the selkie and I think the whereabout's of her grave.If not you go through the grave yard and head up to the old church,turn left at it and the grave is just behing it..if you look ther are lot's of gravestone's with the plague markings in and around it(again I think this is right but it has been at LOT of years since I have been)But on the bright side that graveyard has so much to look at you could spend days there happily without ever seeing the selkie's grave x

[Scunner]

Just another little snippet about Tansfield -A lot of the 'tinker' families lived around Tansfield (please dont take offense anyone (this was many many years ago) and fur ther up that road, which was then no more than a track, you arrived at Birkle Hill, where the tinkers lived in or near the quarry. If I remember rightly, bombs fell during the second WW quite near to where they lived, and frightened them. Birkle Hill was used as the municipal dump, cant recall what decade, but probably the 70;

The house in your first photo was the local Doctors house, and next door, nearer Castletown, is St Margarets.

[Thumper]

Scunner, I think it was used as a dump up until the early 80's but I may be wrong, seem to remember walking there as a child in the late 70's with my dad.Not that we were going to the dump but we used to go looking for birdie's nest's in the spring and then later on in the year for edible berries and I think the dump was still open then?
PS It still isn't more than a track but has some wonderful scenery x