The subject of the 2013 Annual Appeal, funding from Americans across the country has made possible the re-thatching of Souter Johnnie’s Ale House Cottage using traditional building methods. The cottage is one of the last of its kind in Scotland making the conservation not only critical to preserving the history of traditional roof thatching but also quite challenging. Both the expertise and the traditional heather thatching materials are in short supply. Thankfully these were acquired and work was able to commence in the early summer of 2015.