Major work is taking place at a mysterious south Liverpool cottage where 'curse' messages appeared last year.
The cottage lies at the end of Southwood Road in the St Michael's area of Aigburth, south Liverpool. It is the final building on the road before the woods and lies a stone's throw from St Michael's Train Station and Aigburth Cricket Club.
The property has fascinated local people for some time. It is a unique looking building that has been in a state of disrepair for some time now. But people's interest in the cottage intensified last year when mysterious signs appeared at its gates.
A mysterious picture and accompanying messages were suddenly attached to the locked front gates of the cottage. The framed black and white image was of a smiling woman, with a suggestion it was part of a last will and testament.
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The names David Oliver and Paula Marjatta McKay are mentioned, alongside a warning that states: "Whoever removes this from its position will receive 48 hours of regret." Other messages posted on signs around the cottage said 'remain loyal to you Paula' and talked of an 'extraordinary person who will live on.'
At the time, the ECHO investigated the history of the house. We found Land Registry documents which showed that the registered owners of the cottage are Arthur Robert McKay and Paula Marjatta McKay - the latter being the woman named on the picture.
The documents showed that the couple bought the house on August 12, 1977. They stated that a conveyance of the land in this title, dated a few days earlier, was made between the McKays and The Mersey Docks and Harbour Company, which was the vendor.
Our investigation found that the couple lived at the cottage with their son, Erik McKay. Sadly, Erik died at the property on November 4, 2019 at the age of 57 years. A family announcement in the Liverpool ECHO from the time read: "MCKAY, ERIK, 4th November 2019. Aged 57 years, peacefully at home. Funeral service to take place at Springwood Crematorium (Rosemary Chapel) on Monday 25th November 2019, 2.30pm followed by interment at Allerton Cemetery. Will be sadly missed by all who knew him."
At the time we spoke to a childhood friend of Erik's, John Parry. He said: "Erik was a good friend of mine, but he had a troubled life. We grew up in the area together, he lived in the cottage and I lived close by in Belgrave Road."
John said he believed Erik's father worked for the British Transport Police and that originally the family lived in a house attached to St Michael's Station that was provided by the force - before they purchased the cottage directly opposite. He said that sadly Erik's father died at a relatively young age, leaving Erik and his mother Paula living in the cottage.
John said: "Erik and his mum were together for a long time, he was quite well known in south Liverpool - not everyone liked him but we always got on, he was my friend. We used to play in the big cottage garden, shooting targets with air rifles." John said that Erik had worked as a nurse at one stage but went on to struggle with mental health issues and spent some time in hospital.
He added: "He was an incredibly intelligent man, he was so well read - he was a real character. "Yes he had struggles but he was a good friend to me, if you got to know him well he was a really nice lad and he had a dog that he really loved. He had periods of his life where he was really good and well, but at other times life got the better of him." It is understood that the cottage has remained derelict since Erik's death in 2019.
When police accessed the property following his death they found and collected a number of antique firearms dating from the early 1900s and some ammunition that Erik appeared to have collected.
It is now more than two years since those signs first appeared at the cottage and things have changed dramatically. New images show that major renovation work appears to be taking place at the property.
Images show scaffolding has been placed across the front of the cottage, with new temporary fencing placed around the outside of the property. A huge amount of rubbish and debris has also been cleared out of the front garden of the cottage. There are large rubble sacks placed in the front garden as well.
It appears that extensive work has taken place to clear the substantial grounds around the cottage. A view of the side of the property shows a huge amount of items have been cleared. People have been seen working on the property and in its grounds in recent days.
It is not clear what the long-term plans are for this distinctive property, but local people will certainly be hopeful that it could soon be brought back to life.
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