THE relaunch of the Sma Shot Cottages proved to be such a hit that volunteers have decided to extend visiting hours.

The Paisley attraction shows fully restored and furnished 18th century weavers cottages which includes a tearoom, artifacts of local interest and a row of mill workers houses from the 1840’s.

The cottage is a typical weaver’s cottage and is one of the only two remaining in Paisley.

Regular guests and new visitors descended onto the cottage for the reopening after the site was closed over the winter season.

And now guests can come along on every Friday as well as the usual Wednesday and Saturday from 12 noon to 4pm.

There are also plans to run afternoon tea sessions on the new Friday opening as well in the tearoom.

Cottage volunteer Cath Mitchell said: "It's great to be back and the volunteers have been super getting everything organised for the relaunch.

"The weekend opening event was also a good opportunity to show off our group community Provost Award.

"It's a great achievement to be recognised in this way."

Sma Shot Cottages will also be welcoming back a Paisley 2021 lion to the site which they will place in their garden.

Fergus the lion was bought in memory of a local woman Ellen Farmer, whose maiden name was Fergus.

Sma Shot Cottages are also set to be presented with another customised lion in May from the Incorporation of Weavers in May.

Volunteers will also be applying for Townscape Heritage funding this year as they hope to revitalise the site.

Cath added: "It was a wonderful first day and we hope to bring in lots of new faces for this season coming."

It was originally built in the 1740’s and its layout exactly matches written descriptions of such cottages as found in histories of the town. Slight alterations were made during the 1800’s in order to increase the size of the back room, thus providing more living space for the weaver and his family.

The cottage has three rooms, two of which were living quarters, the third being a loom shop where the weaver and his family worked.

Back in the 1700’s the cottage was a workshop as well as a home.