The broadcaster and writer Lesley Riddoch is looking for help to identify the inter-war origins of hutting communities such as Carbeth across Scotland. Lesley is doing a PhD comparing the cabin traditions of Scotland and Norway. Norway has one of the strongest weekend hut cultures in the world with 368k huts (1 for every 10 Norwegians) while Scotland now has fewer than 600 for the same population. She’s trying to explain why huts have not boomed in Scotland despite hutting communities being established around the same time (the 1920s-30s) in both countries.

Whilst varying land ownership patterns are important – she would like to hear from anyone with detailed information on Scotland’s remaining 35 hut sites – in particular their origins and reasons for their decline. It seems the Scots didn’t fail to start hutting - the hut sites failed to survive. Lesley is also interested in big caravan sites which used to be hut sites like Seton Sands in East Lothian. Her main focus is Carbeth and she’s particularly looking for descendants of the bookseller William Ferris who apparently persuaded landowner Allan Barns Graham to make space for hutters in 1920. Her email address is lesleyriddoch@gmail.com