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[The article below was printed in May 2010 Strathdearn Newletter by Pearl Cameron, published here with the permission of her family]
The Demise
On that day in 2007…………….. the note in my diary read – “Such a horrible sight met our eyes when we opened the P & J this morning – the Freeburn Hotel is flattened and we just can’t believe it ! The hotel should have at least been given a decent send off, to let all the ghosts that must be hovering around there have a chance to say goodbye!”
Lately, Charlie and I have been sitting talking it over – quite a lot – and I feel moved to write our thoughts down before the memories fade. We suddenly came to the realization that Charlie is the oldest living native of Tomatin, and he remembers the Freeburn as a high class hotel with many Lords and Ladies visiting in the 1930’s. It was very popular with the fishing enthusiasts. Charlie’s first job in 1932 was as ‘Boots boy’, a job which really covered a lot of useful chores, including polishing the guest’s boots and shoes every morning. He would collect them from outside the bedrooms early in the morning, and polish them ‘until he could see his face reflected’, before returning them before the gentry were awake. He soon learned there was more to it, when he placed a pair of ladies shoes outside a gent’s bedroom by mistake, and got into bother! From then on he chalked numbers on the footwear to correspond with the room numbers.
He well remembers his first day trying to get the hang of things, and as he had to be up so early he had a room in the staff quarters. His home was only a quarter of a mile from the hotel, but he says, as he jumped into the cold staffroom bed, he never felt so homesick in his life!
Later, he was ‘boots /bar man’ – and he also took care of dispensing petrol from a single hand-operated pump. The pump handle worked by ‘one turn – and back – and one back’ per gallon. If you wanted a large quantity you pulled out a peg and left it turning until the tank was full. The pump was always busy as the lodges filled their vehicles there as well as passing motorists.
The owners during this time were referred to as the ‘Misses Gunn’, (two sisters) and came from the Caithness area. Isobel ran it all and her sister was the cook. She died there. The food was always first class and the dining room was upstairs. The food was transported by a ‘dumb waiter’ – a box-shaped lift operated by ropes and pulleys through a narrow shaft that connected the kitchen with the dining room. The waitresses wore black skirts with crisp white blouses, or dresses with white collar and cuffs. Each room had a bell pull which rang downstairs, and brought a prompt response from staff.
There are many questions cropping up – maybe someone has some answers. The bar was the ‘hub of the community’ (as noted by Vivian) for generations. There was so much camaraderie and friendship. We always said that in the shooting season it was over flowing with fur and feathers flying as the keepers compared notes over a pint.
And now Tomatin Inn is closed also, so we have taken another backward step. Isn’t it time to find another way whereby all the community have an opportunity to meet socially and get to know each other? The older folk, who may only like a game of bowls, dominoes, some music or a whist drive, or best of all a blether, are missed out completely. I think this building (Tomatin Inn) is listed – so I trust it wont be demolished like the Freeburn was!
We hope there is a written history somewhere of the Freeburn Hotel, ‘the well loved place’, and we also wonder where the visitors book might have got to? Hopefully in future a new ‘Freeburn’ will welcome trade and adorn the entrance to Tomatin village.
Pearl Cameron