The Story of Cromarty in 6 Maps — (and a few diagrams)

Liz Broumley and Pat Haynes

Victoria Hall, Cromarty

Humans have been using maps to help them understand, interpret and even navigate the world around them for millennia, from 6th century BCE Babylonia to 21st century Google earth. Navigation wasn’t always the most important criterion for early mapmakers: understanding the earth’s relationship to the cosmos as well as understanding the relationship of different regions to each other meant early cartographers were producing philosophical, religious, scientific and political documents. This was dangerous activity as getting the interpretation wrong in the eyes of the powerful could lead to accusations of heresy, often with fatal results.

Cromarty appeared on the first survey‐based map of the whole of Scotland, created initially by Timothy Pont in the late 16th century. But Cromarty also appeared on earlier maps produced by some of the famous Italian and Dutch map makers of the early and mid 1500s. Pat and Liz will take you on a journey through Cromarty’s history in maps, and where the ancients failed to provide the relevant maps they have bravely stepped in to fill the breach.

Liz Broumley trained in the social sciences, working in industry and academia before being seduced by computing, which led to a major career shift into AI and computer science. She spent the rest of her career both in research and tutoring, finally running a small research unit on elearning within UHI, cleverly combining her background skills with her love of Scottish mountains. Liz plans to be one of the oldest women ever to complete the Munros, for which maps, and a love of maps, are essential. When not huffing and puffing her way up hillsides, she can be heard tormenting a perfectly innocent fiddle.

Pat Haynes trained and practised as a landscape architect and land manager. She took advantage of early retirement to follow a long held ambition by buying a Highland hotel, running it with her husband for 6 years before rechartering in her profession and working on sundry commissions across the Highlands. A later move saw her working for SEPA as a Senior Environmental Planner, which precipitated a relocation to Cromarty, where she has been involved in the community archaeological dig, volunteered as a cook for the Arts Trust and been a fund raiser/project manager for the Harbour Restoration Project. She is currently a trustee of the Cromarty Arts Trust, and self-identifies as a mermaid.

Cromarty History Society now meets on the the third Tuesday of each month, September - April