I don't really play my mouthblown SSP anymore and have just got it out of the box for the first time in an age to take it apart and send the bits for conversion to bellows playing. I was horrified to find that several of the pieces were showing signs of moulding on the wood. The same was showing on my even less often played set of highland pipes (blame my new border pipe). I had thought they were both well stored in their cases and dry. Has anyone got any tips on prevention and preservation, given that the GHB in particular won't very often see the light of day and is really a sentimental possession rather than an active instrument these days? Ironically enough the last time the SSP was out of the box I oilled the wood very, very lightly with an extra virgin olive oil. Was that the culprit?

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Thanks Pete. I'm trying packing the GHB case with a couple of sachets of dessicant, having given them a good rub down. I've washed out the bag cover and had all the bits apart airing, it might work, I can but hope. This is a Victorian town house at the foot of a hill settled over a 1000 years ago precisely because of the easy availability of water at a shallow depth in the ground. After this summer parts of it have taken some major attention to prevent slipping back to the dark ages! The smallpipe might be happier when it's getting played again. It was a shock seeing the wood like that I don't want to repeat.