WHEN Cockenzie House historian Sheila Ritchie discovered a box of long lost glass photographic plates under the floorboards, she knew she was on to something. Now lovingly restored and printed up for exhibition, they provide a fascinating insight into what domestic and public life was like for the Cadell family in the mid-nineteenth century.
Layer by layer, the dirt was removed to reveal not only the family members of this remarkable entrepreneurial and military dynasty, but long ago distant glimpses into the fighting men of the Crimean War.
Cockenzie House and Gardens, 22, Edinburgh Road Cockenzie and Port Seton, is open daily from 11am (10am at weekends) until 4pm. Check out the Cadell tearoom. The scones and quiches are superb.
Images: Cadell ladies at home at Cockenzie House and glimpses of the uniforms worn on the Crimean Peninsula during the war against Russia c.1853-1856.
Submitted by Roddy Martine
