Farraline Hall

A Memory of Errogie.

Moved to Farraline Hall, Errogie in 1950 from Leeds. Dad was estate manager. Me and my brother Jeff and sister Jennifer in the back of a 7 ton flat lorry, sat on mattress under canvas in the back of it. I went to Errogie school, had to walk there and back every day. The school then was one room all ages from 4 to 15, one teacher taught us all and all subjects. It was good in winter time as we were snowed in up to 3 months, no school for me and my brother. If the lock was frozen over we took a short cut across the lock on the ice as it was only half a mile across to school, not the 4 mile walk round at Farraline Hall. I had a friend who used to stand in the archway to the now walled garden, just a black figure, he used to run across the road, through the fence, down to the lock side, story was it was the ghost of a Roman who was out fishing when a local clan turned up so he ran back to the fort but the doors were locked by those inside so he turned round, ran down towards the clan, sword in hand, and attracted them, he was killed as a result but he still haunts the fort which is now a walled garden. Me and my brother found lots of Roman coins and bits when helping in the garden, also we uncovered a wolf's skeleton up at the back of the house we lived in on the hill side which I think has now been demolished. I also remember an old hemit who lived in old run-down croft on the way to school, the saw mill at top of lock, also the wild cats we caught in traps on the land, the moors around us.