Pigeon Pantry

This isn’t the opening shot of a quirky sitcom — it’s the inside of a 16th-century doocot, taken during a day out with the McNeills.
Built on the grounds of Dirleton Castle in East Lothian, this round stone structure once housed up to 1,000 pigeons. And no, not for delivering messages — they were dinner!
Pigeon meat (called “squab”) was a reliable source of fresh protein, especially in winter when other meat was hard to come by. The eggs and droppings were useful too — doocots were like medieval multi-tools!
Today, it's more Instagrammable than edible. We couldn’t resist grabbing a shot looking up through the roof — a rainbow burst of joy in a surprisingly photogenic pigeon pantry.