A Tragic Incident

On 21st May 1920 Duncan Urquhart a surface man employed by the Highland Railway Company was working on the line near to near Alness in far North of Scotland. Due to high winds that particular morning Duncan didn’t hear the 0935 goods train from Tain approaching.

As Duncan stepped onto the sleepers to avoid some ballast he was tragically struck from behind. Despite the best efforts of medical staff at the nearby Ross Memorial Hospital in Dingwall, Duncan was pronounced dead at 6.00pm that evening leaving behind a widow and seven young children.

The Move South

One of these children – Margaret (16) – decided to travel South in search of work to support her mother and younger siblings. Margaret entered domestic service, as was common at the time for girls her age, taking up a role at Bardrochat House in Colmonell (the big house on the hill opposite the cottage).

Wedding Bells

Margaret enjoyed her new job at Bardrochat and quickly settled into village life in Colmonell where she met a local man called Robert Jones. The pair fell in love and married at Colmonell Parish Church on 22nd December 1931. Their marriage was a long and happy one. Together Margaret and Robert had 5 children, one of being Christine who was born at Ash Cottage in Pinwherry (a few miles from Colmonell in 1938.)

Call the Midwife

Christine has fond memories of Colmonell during her childhood in the 1940’s. She especially remembers visiting her widowed grandmother who by this time had moved down from the Highlands and settled in Colmonell. Christine became a nurse and midwife spending the majority of her career as one of the district nurses for Girvan and the surrounding villages.

Where does The Cottage @ 59 come into this story?

Christine is my grandmother. Margaret and Robert Jones are my great-grandparents. Duncan Urquhart is my great-great grandfather. When, along with my wife Iona, we started to look for a potential property we could run as a holiday let Colmonell seemed the obvious place due to the long family connection with the village.

We bought the cottage in 2022 and have lovingly renovated it so that our guests can enjoy a relaxing break in one of Scotland’s most idyllic villages.