An impression of how a restored Hall of Clestrain would look. (Illustration: John Sanders, Simpson and Brown)

The Orkney Boat Museum would be self-sustaining once it was operating, the crowd in a packed Pier Arts Centre was told last week.

At the launch of Friends of the Orkney Boat Museum, they were told the capital required to develop the Hall of Clestrain site would be more than £3 million, but the museum should be able to exist without public subsidy.

More than 100 people turned out to hear about the proposed museum and the restoration of the building.

In the week since the launch of the friends, about 350 registration forms have been distributed to members of the public, giving directors hopes of a strong organisation.

The Hall of Clestrain and the boat museum plan will feature in this year’s Restoration television series, which chooses a project to receive millions of pounds in funding.

The properties proposed will be introduced on BBC 2 at 9.30pm on Saturday night, with the full series following in the summer. Viewers will vote for the property they want to win.

The Hall of Clestrain plan is to restore the house to its Georgian splendour, then develop museum galleries, a John Rae sitting room, cafe and gift shop and build a huge new building to house up to 40 historic boats.

Arctic explorer Rae was born in the house and there is support in Canada for the restoration. Rae is a national hero there.

Potential friends were told the directors wanted a living museum, with events, regattas, school use, boatbuilding on site and the restoration of Orkney’s historic small craft.

The two patrons of the Friends of the Orkney Boat Museum are Cameron Stout and the Lord Lieutenant, Mr George Marwick.

Hugh Halcro-Johnston, the chairman of the project committee, said the restoration of the house would “tie together three very strong strands – saving the house, saving the boats and telling the story of John Rae.

“The restoration of his reputation is long overdue,” he said.

He said Cameron Stout had shown that if you lived in a remote, little-known place such as Orkney, you could still win the popular vote.

“There’s huge optimism about this project,” he said.

Steve Callaghan, Orkney Islands Council heritage officer, said the properties included in Restoration had been chosen by the programme makers after a search and based on recommendations. Project committees did not apply for inclusion.

Leslie Burgher (left), Steve Callaghan, centre, and Hugh Halcro-Johnston mark the launch of the Friends of the Orkney Boat Museum.

Leslie Burgher, of architects Pentarq, an adviser to the project, said there had been three or four different schemes proposed for the house over the past ten to 15 years.

To bring the house up to a reasonable standard, it needed a new roof and windows, parts of the floor replaced and the pig pens removed from the basement.

The house had not been lived in since the 1950s, he said.

Work had to be done to make some parts of the floor safe enough for filming to go ahead when the programme makers visited earlier this year.

Mr Burgher said that when a friends meeting was held at the site, it might be possible to give people a glimpse of the interior, but it was too unsafe for them to go in.

He said the house had been very modern when it was built.

“It was like building a £1 million home in Orkney today. It was way ahead of everything else.”

* The first meeting of the Friends of the Orkney Boat Museum will be at the Kirkwall town hall at 7pm on Wednesday, May 19. Membership forms are available from the OIC, Orkney Museum and Hugh Halcro-Johnston.

A 14th century castle and historic woollen mill to provide the competition for hall

Portencross Castle

Protencross Castle, in north Ayrshire, which requires at least £800,000 to restore some sections before the public can get in.

Portencross Castle is in north Ayrshire, on the coast not far from the Hunterston B nuclear power station.

The castle is owned by British Energy plc, although plans are in hand to transfer ownership to the community group working to save it.

The current castle building was constructed in the 14th century on a promontory of rock extending into the Firth of Clyde.

The grandson of Robert the Bruce, Robert Stewart, is thought to have stopped off at the castle on his way to Scone Palace to be crowned Robert II of Scotland.

The first Stewart king, he signed many Royal charters at Portencross, which was built to protect the Clyde estuary.

The castle is four storeys high, with a barrel-vaulted ceiling.

When built, it had two kitchens on the first two floors and a circular staircase leading from the first floor to the top.

Despite the demolition of many fortified houses in Ayrshire during the next two centuries, Portencross survived.

The Friends of Portencross Castle (FOPC) want to keep the castle in public ownership via a trust, maintain it as a stabilised ancient monument, and ensure ongoing public access to the foreshore around the castle.

To restore it so that some sections are able to be opened to the public would cost a minimum of £800,000.

Previous attempts to restore the castle have come to nothing and FOPC has refused to support attempts to restore it for holiday letting.

“Making the castle habitable would substantially change its fabric,” FOPC said.

“During and after restoration there would be a long-term and adverse effect upon the character of the hamlet.

“A profit-making venture would adversely impact upon retention of the castle and its surrounding foreshore for long-term public benefit.”

FOPC wants to establish a capital investment fund of £100,000 and fund ongoing maintenance from the income.

The Restoration website says Portencross is “on the verge of collapse”, but the Friends of Portencross Castle website says it is “remarkably intact despite the absence of maintenance.”

The castle is listed as Category A, a scheduled monument.

Knockando Wool Mill

Knockando Wool Mill, in Moray, which requires £2 million for complete restoration.

Knockando Wool Mill, in Aberlour, Moray, is in the heart of the Spey Valley distillery territory.

It is full of Victorian machinery and a local trust wants to ensure the conservation of the mill and the mill croft as an educational and cultural asset.

The spinning mule in the mill is believed to have been installed new in 1870 or shortly after.

Alexander Smith and his family worked the mill from 1865 to 1907, installing the machinery as mechanisation took over.

When Alexander died in 1907, his son James carried on the business, which was mainly weaving and finishing blankets.

There was a scouring house, a washing and milling machine driven from the main mill, a drying shed with a solid fuel heater so cloth could be dried in winter, and a smoking shed where blanket cloth was sulphur-smoked to whiten it from the natural cream colour.

The tenter frame used for drying the finished cloth to a uniform width when the weather allowed, is still in an adjacent field.

James Smith died in 1913 and his nephew, Duncan Stewart, became part-owner.

Electricity arrived in 1948 but the mill and croft continued to be worked using the existing machinery.

Hugh Jones took over the mill 25 years ago and still produces tweeds, rugs and blankets. He was taught how to operate the machinery by Duncan Stewart, who died in 1991.

The Knockando Wool Mill Trust needs at least £2 million to restore the machinery and buildings and ensure cloth production is still economically viable.

The passing on of the craft skills will be a focus of the restoration and the establishment of a centre for education and training.

Knockando mill is the last surviving small district spinning and weaving mill in mainland Scotland. Bridgend Mill on Islay also contains early spinning machinery.

The mill and farm buildings are listed as Category A and of international significance.

Back