I have come across many ways of securing thatch to a roof, from pointed hazel spars to heather rope, iron crooks to old-fashioned tarred twine. But this 17th-century roof in the fishing village of Ardersier offers something I haven’t seen before: everything has been tied down with orange baler twine.
As basic as the technique may seem, it’s worked: the string-tied water reed has survived 35 winters in the north-eastern Highlands. The thatch is underpinned by a base coat – a layer of turf resting on the roof timbers. The turf is probably over a century old, and flecked with heather and marram grass (known here as “bent”).
