It may be cold outside, but our conservation and maintenance team are still hard at work. Over the last few weeks they’ve been widening the footpaths up to Eddie’s House, and have cleared the concrete foundation of the milkhouse that used to sit at the north end of Eddie’s Barn. This structure was where the MacCallum family processed their milk in to butter and cheese, and was separated from the byre and house to maintain cleanliness. Unfortunately, it came down in the 1950s and we’ve only got one very blurry picture of it, although ‘young’ Eddie MacCallum has told us that it was made from old windows.

As always, the team have found a few items buried too. This time they include a holly design bowl fragment with a Melrose CPC makers mark, which refers to the Melrose pattern made by the Clyde Pottery Company. This company made wares from 1816 to the early 1900s, and were based in Greenock. They also found the lid of a tin of ‘red Cardinal’ polish for unglazed tiles and brickwork.