Moat Brae House prospectus launched

Moat Brae © Copyright Darrin Antrobus

When I mentioned Moat Brae for the first time, way back in 2008 – Tourism opportunity missed, it was really to have a dig at the “50% by 2015% demand by the Scottish Government, which was their subtle request for the tourism industry to increase its turnover by 50% by 2015. The stick was there, but no apparent carrot to help meet the call.

Moat Brae, with its connection to Peter Pan and author JM Barrie seemed to be an ideal tourist trap (or magnet), but had been left to the vandals, with a quick search showing reports of damage dating back to 2003, and no real help to save the house, which might even have been looking at demolition if the damage and decay continued.

Since then, there has been a number of stories that suggested good news and the start of work to save and restore the house, but these always turn out not be the start of real work on the structure, but of plans.

When the name of Moat Brae bubbled up to the top of my news feeds this week, the wording suggested that work was about to start:

BBC News – Dumfries Peter Pan house project launched

But it turns out that its just another planning announcement and prospectus launch, and reveals that the trust looking after the house has yet to complete its purchase:

The Peter Pan Moat Brae Trust is currently raising funds for the upgrade of the building and has secured Joanna Lumley as a patron for its plans.

She said: “I am so thrilled and proud to be here to launch these exciting plans for the future of Moat Brae House and garden.

“There is such wonderful potential to create a fantastic National Centre for Children’s Literature.

“I want to help raise the profile of this admirable project so that Peter Pan fans from all over the world can support this wonderful restoration.”

The house and garden were in private ownership between 1823 and 1914.

It subsequently became a nursing home which shut in 1997 and fell into disrepair.

A local housing association then bought the property and planned to turn it into a residential development.

However, a campaign was launched to stop those proposals and ownership of the building was transferred to the PPMBT for £1 in 2010 with the goal of creating an “attraction of international significance”.

The group is now launching its prospectus with its vision for the historic site which Barrie described as an “enchanted land” which was “certainly the genesis” of Peter Pan.

The trust’s first goal is to raise £750,000 to fund the agreed final purchase price of the building and undertake urgent repair works.

While I like to think I am a realist, and understand how long these projects can take, I hadn’t thought I’d begin to wonder if I would still be writing this Blog by the time the house was opened.

Nor am I criticising the trust – hats off to the members for perseverance.

However, I think those (at the Beeb) responsible for writing the leader for the articles might want to keep the headline a bit closer to reality.

Update

Just after the prospectus was launched, Historic Scotland granted the project £250,000 towards emergency repairs to secure the property from further decay, but this still leaves it short of the £615,000 being sought to complete the these repairs alone.

Urgent repairs funding has been awarded to the house which inspired JM Barrie to write Peter Pan after playing in its gardens as a child.

A grant of £250,000 is being given by Historic Scotland to help restore the Moat Brae building in Dumfries.

…
Development director Cathy Agnew said the funds would help in its goal of raising £615,000 before the end of the year to carry out emergency work.

She said it would let the trust take the “first steps to deliver this project and save Moat Brae”.

BBC News – Dumfries Peter Pan house project secures repairs funds

Another update

Busy time down in Dumfries, and following the above stories there was yet another, as Joanna Lumley – already noted as a patron of the Moat Brae House project – unveiled a statue of Peter Pan at the entrance to the town:

The Peter Pan statue was provided by the action group, the People’s Project, which is working to improve the appearance and reputation of Dumfries.

Ms Lumley said she was amazed at the work which had gone into the wood-carving.

“I absolutely love it – I am so impressed that it is all made out of one enormous spruce tree trunk,” she said.

“It is absolutely enchanting and it is standing outside the garden centre so everybody who is driving past on the road can see it.”

BBC News – Joanna Lumley unveils Dumfries Peter Pan statue

Yet another update

There must be a regular traffic jam in Dumfries these days, as I just spotted news that the people from the Buildings at Risk register have been there for a look as well, and updated the entry for Moat Brae House:

Moat Brae House, SCT Ref No 2215, Dumfries and Galloway

Moat Brae House project changes again

Moat Brae © Copyright Darrin Antrobus

Some stories refuse to lie down, even after it looks as if they’ve been put to bed, and are done and dusted!

This one’s been spotted three times so far:

Tourism opportunity missed

Moat Brae House project begins

Moat Brae House project note

However, it looks as if things are finally settled, and the house has been transferred to the Peter Pan Moat Brae Trust (PPMBT) for the sum of £1.

The house had formerly been acquired by the Loreburn housing association, which had intended to turn the site into housing. While this plan ensured the survival of the house, which had seen various proposals come and go over the years, and was near collapse after lying derelict and targeted by vandals, campaigners were unhappy with the planned use.

The agreement between Loreburn and PPMBT means the trust can now pursue it plans, which include the creation of a flat for respite care of sick children, and the the construction of a visitor centre, shop and cafe.

Loreburn’s convener, Iain Agnew, said it now felt the trust was “best placed” to lead the restoration project.

“We urge everyone to now ensure that Dumfries and Galloway has an attraction of international significance,” he said.

PPMBT chairman Roger Windsor said the move was proof that “dreams do come true”.

He said: “We need immediate remedial work to stop further deterioration and the trust will be concentrating its initial efforts in raising funds to this end. Work has already commenced to re-establish ‘Neverland’ on the banks of the Nith, and to restore this beautiful house as a cultural inspiration for the whole community. We also acknowledge Loreburn’s contribution in securing and saving the subjects for the benefit of the Dumfries community, and making it available to the trust to restore.”

Moat Brae House project note

In a short update to yesterday’s post noting that the Moat Brae House project begins, it seems that there is more to the story than a simple restoration of the house.

In fact, the word restoration would appear to be being used being made in what might be described as the loosest of terms.

It now seems that the Loreburn housing association, which was described in the news as seeking to restore the building actually has plans to preserve the façade of the building, but intends to demolish much of the property to turn it into housing and a visitor centre.

The use of the word restoration is something that has long been contentious in one of my own areas of interest, that of Classic Cars, where the claim of restoration of an original, historically significant vehicle can add many thousands of pounds to its value, and make an otherwise uneconomic restoration of £50,000 economic, as it raises the value of the finished item from a few thousand, to many tens (or even hundreds) of thousands of pounds.

When such sums are involved, it makes sense to ask precisely what was involved. Some so-called restorations with huge price tags have proven to fall at this hurdle, as the prospective buyer discovers that the originality of the car concerned lies in little more than a scrap someone found on a race track. An extreme and anecdotal example, but calling Moat House a restoration if it’s only a façade retention project does not seem to be the most honourable of practices, and throws the intention of the whole exercise into question.

I don’t have any objection to mere façade retention, and saving this part of the building if the engineer’s reports are accurate, and the building has been allowed to deteriorate to the extent that it is unsafe. Even Loreburn cannot reasonably be held to account for the sins of others if it is merely the last party to own the property, and invest in the remains, but that’s no excuse for not being clear about just what the final product will be.

As it is, there is now a campaign fighting to save the building, and which has made a late bid to stop the works. Campaigners have served an interim interdict on the housing association which now owns Moat Brae House, and the Peter Pan Moat Brae Trust has now taken action to stop the works which were due to start this week, and talks are expected to be held between the two groups in advance of a possible legal hearing later this week.

Moat Brae House project begins

Moat Brae © Copyright Darrin Antrobus

Back in April, I mentioned that the powers that be had missed (yet another) opportunity they could have used to bolster their insane target of increasing tourism revenue by 50% by 2015 (that figure must surely have been created by throwing a dart at a dartboard), when it didn’t seize on Moat Brae House as as an asset.

The historic house is worthy of note as is is said to helped inspire author JM Barrie in the writing of Peter Pan. In his memoirs, published in 1904, he wrote of Peter Pan: “Our escapades in a certain Dumfries garden which was an enchanted land to me was certainly the genesis of this work.”

Since 2003, the house has been the subject of attacks by vandals, and had fallen into such a state of disrepair that engineers had warned of its imminent collapse.

Moat Brae House was acquired by the Loreburn Housing Association in order to safeguard the property for the town, and the local association has now brought forward its plans to restore the house, and now intends to start on work to make the property safe and preserve its façade, ultimately converting it for residential use.

It will then work with community group the People’s Project and the nearby school Dumfries Academy to restore the gardens and create a visitor centre.

Still can’t help feeling that if we are supposed to want all these tourists to come here and leave their money behind, that the Scottish Government and bodies with pots of money should be preserving, promoting, and financing such places and projects, not last-minute private developments.

its works to put the site to residential use as well as creating a visitor centre.

James Clark Maxwell statue in Edinburgh

James Clark Maxwell (1831-1879)

I suppose it’s probably a result of having Maxwell’s equations (and quite few others) endlessly hammered into my head over a number of years, but I’d never really thought of James Clark Maxwell as a national secret, or as much of an unknown as he appears to be.

Audio clip: “He’s the biggest scientist Scotland has ever produced”.

However, according to the BBC, it seems that despite coming up with his set of equations – Maxwell’s equations – which demonstrated that electricity, magnetism and light are all manifestations of the same electromagnetic field, and unifying these disciplines of physics, he remains generally unknown to most people not generally involved in the business.

He took the first colour photograph, defined the nature of gases and with those few mathematical equations had expressed all the fundamental laws of light, electricity and magnetism – in doing so he provided the tools to create the technological age, from radar to radio and televisions to mobile phones. Maxwell has been credited with fundamentally changing our view of reality, so much so that Albert Einstein said of him, “One scientific epoch ended and another began with James Clerk Maxwell”.

Although noted, the 175th anniversary of his birth in 1831 passed with little public interest, in 2004 his theory of electromagnetism was voted the joint-top equation of all time, and he also polled third in a poll of the greatest physicists of all time

Maxwell is now to be commemorated in Edinburgh by the erection of a statue produced by Paisley-born sculptor Alexander Stoddart, and which will be the first statue to be put up in Edinburgh’s George Street for almost a century.

Following his birth in Edinburgh, his family moved to Glenlair near Corsock in Galloway while he was still a child, but he later returned to Edinburgh where he completed most his education before heading to the University of Cambridge.

He would later be elected to the Royal Society, and held the position of  professor of natural philosophy at Marischal College, Aberdeen, and then King’s College, London. However, by 1865 he had retired and returned to the family estate in Dumfries and Galloway where he would spend most of his days until his death in 1879, aged 48.

He is buried at Parton graveyard, close to his family home.

More details and many of his papers can be found on the site of The James Clerk Maxwell Foundation, which was formed in Scotland in 1977 to honour one of the greatest scientists who has ever lived.

Given the physics required to make the global positioning system (GPS) operational, it may be fitting that there is a geocache hidden near Maxwell’s burial place.

Lost and Found – Eskdale

Earning a mention simply because we like to note things that have been lost, especially if they’ve been found, Eskdale has returned to the political map of southern Scotland after a short absence. Unfortunately, you’ll have to go and hunt its location down for yourself, as we can’t dredge up any maps we can use without being sure of not upsetting someone’s copyright.

A three year fight to retain the name began back in 2005, the “Save Eskdale” campaign, when the council ward name disappeared in an boundary review in Dumfries and Galloway. At the time, the Local Boundary Commission for Scotland suggested the area be called Annandale East, and that is the name which has since been used in local government elections.

Campaigners didn’t stand down though, and took the case to Finance Secretary John Swinney in pursuit of the return of the Eskdale name.

The Scottish Government has now agreed to meet the campaigners demands and ward 13 in the region will now be known as Annandale East and Eskdale,  a decision welcomed by Dumfriesshire Tory MP David Mundell and Dumfries Labour MSP Elaine Murray.

John Paul Jones and the Bonhomme Richard

John Paul Jones was born at Arbigland in Dumfries and Galloway in 1747 and, as a teenagers, went to America where he joined the country’s embryo navy. From that start, he progressed to become considered the founder of the modern US Navy.

He battled the British Navy In 1779, aboard the Bonhomme Richard, and, as his own ship was sinking off Flamborough Head off the Yorkshire coast, he boarded a British frigate and captured it.

Naval history experts now hope to finally identify the site where the wreck of his most famous vessel is to be found. In what may be one of the craft’s last missions, the Deep Submergence Vessel NR-1, a unique US Navy nuclear-powered ocean engineering and research submarine, will be brought in to help search for the remains. NR-1 (Nerwin) began operating in 1969, and is due to be retired this year. The craft is able to operate independently of the surface, and has sophisticated vision and sonar systems, manoeuvring, navigation, and manipulation facilities. The crew are all nuclear trained, and selected for service on the submarine, which can carry anything up to 13 on board, including crew and specialists. Depths of up to half a nautical mile can be catered for, and duration can be up to 16 days, with a maximum of 25 days. Limiting factors are really supplies, in other words, food.

NR-1 assisted in searches such as that for wreckage from the Challenger Space Shuttle disaster, and HMHS Britannic, sister ship to RMS Titanic and which struck a mine and sank off the coast of Greece while serving as a hospital ship during World War I.

Wonder if the radiophobes come out and protest when Nerwin makes an appearance?

Hunter Wellies wade off into the sunset

Joining what used to be Scotland’s Silicon Glen, manufacturing costs in this country have driven the makers of the famous Green Hunter Wellington boot overseas.

Having survived their first brush with the administrator in 2006, the company succeeded in surviving a number of trial, but has had to yield to economics and transfer its production to places such as Serbia, China, and Brazil. The changes are expected to see its head office move from it Heathhall works near Dumfries, and result in the loss of up to 22 jobs – with only seven employed in boot manufacture. In 2006, staff numbered 101, with most involved in manufacturing, and the company ranked amongst the largest employers in Dumfries.

Beginning as the North British Rubber Company in Edinburgh in 1856, it made its place by using a new process to cure and stabilise the rubber – vulcanising. World War I saw its fortunes lift, as the War Office needed waterproof boots for troops fighting in flooded trenches, and almost 1.2 million pairs were supplied. Taking the place of another Scottish manufacturer that sadly succeeded in becoming a failure, they moved to Dumfries in 1946 after acquiring the factory of the Arroll Johnston motor company, which had gone into receivership and closed in 1931.

Your scribe has had a pair of faithful Hunters for years, and is not a member of the ‘horsey’ set. His are still as good new, despite having been across a fair number of muddy fields in search of various artefacts related to the country’s First, Second, and Cold War remains, and have survived the attentions of various noxious materials they’ve had to plough through, both animal-made and man-made in some instances, as pollution comes in numerous guises.

While that sort of crap can generally be removed with some soap and water, a splash of disinfectant and a hose, nothing can remove the embarrassment that has come to be associated with a pair of Hunters ever since ‘Celebrities’ began to consider they were ‘Kewl’ to be seen in. But, since they work (the Green Wellies, NOT the useless celebrities), they still get thrown in the back of the car when they’re needed (unlike the celebrities, who’d be thrown under the car.)

Red squirrel gain safe havens

Scotland’s natural population of red squirrels is gaining a little help in beating off the assault from the invading grey, which competes aggressively with native species for food, and carries the deadly squirrel pox virus, harmless to the grey, but deadly to the red.

Red Alert South West Scotland was set up seven years ago, to address issues regarding the loss of habitat and disease within the species, and to raise the awareness regarding conservation. The areas it watches over now has 13 save havens – a series of “priority woodlands” have now been established in Dumfries and Galloway to provide safe havens for red squirrels.

Two Grey Squirrel control officers are also employed by Scottish Natural Heritage, and cover the area of Nith, Annan, and Esk river valleys.

So far, the population seems to be holding steady against the potential invasion of the greys.

http://www.red-squirrels.org.uk/index.htm

Tourism opportunity missed

Back in November of 2007 the Scottish Parliament’s economy, energy and tourism committee launched an inquiry into tourism, intended to find out if the target of increasing tourism revenues by 50 per cent by 2015 is realistic. In its written response to the inquiry, the Edinburgh Chamber of Commerce claimed the target was set as a result of political ambition rather than a factual analysis. Since then, similar views have been expressed by those in the business.

One of the problems with the stated aim is that it is revenue based/driven, and reading further into the accompanying words, it is depressing to see references to increasing revenues by increasing the value of services offered to visitors, and providing them with premium services, with their matching premium rates and prices, so increasing the per-head return generated from each tourist.

Moat Brae © Copyright Darrin Antrobus

This is all well and good, and works to a point, but depends on not hitting the price ceiling for any given goods or services, over which the majority will not go, and of not driving customers away by being priced higher than the ‘same shop along the road’. And Scotland is already far from the cheapest, with premium prices already in abundance.

As far back as January 2003, Moat House in Dumfries was being attacked by vandals, who caused some £200,000 worth of damage – smashing windows and furniture, ripping out walls, and setting fires. The house is significant as it was instrumental in inspiring author JM Barrie while writing Peter Pan, as he moved there at age 13. In his memoirs, published in 1904, he wrote of Peter Pan: “Our escapades in a certain Dumfries garden which was an enchanted land to me was certainly the genesis of this work.”

Although there has been interest in turning the house into a tourist attraction dedicated to Barrie’s life and works, nothing has ever been followed through, including the owner’s thought of turning it into a fantasy hotel based on the work. Previously a nursing home, the B-listed four-storey house was auctioned in 2000 for £80,000.

Once again, the house is up for auction, with agents ReMax being instructed to sell the property. A Barrie House Action Group has been formed in Dumfries to campaign for the preservation of the property and its link with the author, and had hoped that the local council would have been able to place a compulsory purchase order on the property, and save it, but has now admitted that this is not going to happen.

Rather than bleeding the tourists (that do come to Scotland) dry, the Scottish Government’s tourism officials would do better to study the map and look for untapped resources, people, and places that could be turned into visitor attractions, and bring greater numbers of “bums on seats”. They may part with with less cash per head, but are more dependable, and less subject to seasonal variations.

One thing that business learn is that while it may be nice to have a few big clients filling the coffers, when only a few of them catch a cold and stay away, the coffers grow empty very very quickly. Have them by all means, but fill the spaces between them with lots of little ones, then losing a few means you don’t catch a cold too, and suffer the consequences.

Over the past few years, possibly since the turn of the decade, many small museums and attractions across Scotland have closed due to lack of funding, and without these, small towns and villages have no value for tourists, who simply pass through them on their way to the more well known venues. Over time, the lack of interesting spots between the the big name venues will make them look like desert islands, and they will eventually begin to lose their attraction too.