This is a photograph of the late Mrs Isabella Maclean, of “Castle Needle”, Balconie Street, Evanton (date unknown, but possibly late 1920s), beside the first milk separator to be introduced to Ross-shire, and located at Balconie Farm. The building (a dairy) behind Mrs Maclean has been restored in recent years

In the summer months Mrs Maclean moved the few yards from her house to live in the gatehouse beside the entrance to the drive leading to Balconie Castle in order to open and close the gates, as required, when the Bankes family (owners of the Castle) came for “the season”.

On modern Balconie Street the low stone wall around a flowerbed at the start of the remnants of the former drive (opposite the Co-op Store) determines the size and location of the gatehouse.