Cromarty Archive

QM2 in the Cromarty Firth

QM2 in the Cromarty Firth

Date Added: 20 June 2005 Contributor: Susan Florence Year: 2005 Picture No: 1234

Albums: The Sea

Groups: Queen Mary 2 visits the firth - 2005

7 Comments

I would like to get in touch with your contributor Susan Florence as she posted a picture of dignitaries of Cromarty and named one of them who was my great aunt, Vera Piper, except she may have made a mistake with her name. Hope you can help. Thank you. Comment left on 09 November 2014 at 20:06 by Alan Thomas
Vera piper was also known as Vera rennie she used to cycle out past the red burn on her bike and her Dog Fyrish used to run along behind her she had a sweet shop on bank street Comment left on 13 November 2014 at 21:07 by Davey jones
Hi Alan - your great aunt Vera - I only knew her as Vera "piper " as that was her by name . Comment left on 14 November 2014 at 11:43 by Anonymous
My grandmother, Eliza Rennie from Fortrose had three sisters. Agnes, Margaret and Vera. I thought that it was Margaret who had previously lived in Canada that was the councillor not Vera. I have been told that Margaret and Vera ran a tea room/souvenier/sweet shop in Bank Street. My father, Alexander Thomas (aka Alistair) was born in Fortrose, moved away to Clydebank as his father Garnet Thomas from Flushing in Cornwall owned a coaster and used to ship cargo along the West Highland coast and to the Royal Navy at Cromarty. My father almost drowned in the Firth and Forth Clyde Canal and to recuperate went to live with his aunts in Cromarty in the 30s and went to secondary school in Cromarty. Comment left on 14 November 2014 at 19:14 by Alan Thomas
One of the great delights in Cromarty just after the war was the delicacy of ice cream on offer at "Vera's" I think it came in from Fortrose (probably Pagliari's) on the famous Highland Omnibus and certainly went down well with the locals. Talking about Pagliari's can anyone remember the Christmas parties that Mario used to put on? Comment left on 15 November 2014 at 00:22 by Alex Grant
When I was a child my father told me that my family in Cormarty had started the first bus service to or on the Black Isles and that one of the sisters, Vera I think, was the first woman to ride a motor bike in the region. My dad also said that Vera was in the habit of diving into the sea off the harbour wall for a swim even in the winter. It could be that all of the above is not accurate as my memory of what I was told is rather hazy. I was in Cromarty about three years ago and met Eric Malcolm who was able to provide me with some information about Vera. She had apparently been the victim of a bigamous marriage that affected her rather badly and resulted in her becoming very eccentric in later life. I imagine it would have been a very embarrassing scandal at the time.
Comment left on 15 November 2014 at 14:13 by Alan Thomas
Vera piper was also known as Vera usher if I recall correctly her shop was owned by the Singh family then it was owned by Tom Munro who also had sun court in church street Vera's shop is now owned by janis Scott lodges daughter Comment left on 17 November 2014 at 15:27 by Davey jones
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