An ambitious project to turn the Hall of Clestrain into the base for a prestigious boat museum could be completed in as little as 18 months.

That was the announcement made by the director of the Friends of the Orkney Boat Museum last week.

Mr Hugh Halcro-Johnston was speaking at the inaugural meeting of the organisation in Kirkwall Town Hall last Thursday evening.

The group has plans to convert the Hall of Clestrain in Orphir into a viable boat museum, eventually hoping to attract more than 20,000 visitors a year.

At last week’s meeting, the “friends” were told the capital required to develop the Hall of Clestrain site stands at about £3.5 million, but the museum should be able to exist without public subsidy.

The Hall of Clestrain and the boat museum plan are to feature in the BBC Restoration television series, which chooses a project to receive millions of pounds in funding.

The museum hopes to display up to 40 boats, showing 5,000 years of boat building, and will be part of a larger programme involving the restoration of the Hall of Clestrain — the family home of Arctic explorer John Rae, the man who discovered the fate of the Franklin expedition.

And if the Orkney project wins the public vote, the prize money will allow the ambitious project to move full steam ahead.

The 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.

BBC film crews were recently in the county filming at the Orphir site for the Restoration programme.

To bring the house up to a reasonable standard, it needs a new roof and windows, parts of the floor replaced and the pig pens removed from the basement. It had not been lived in since the 1950s. The BBC are due back in Orkney next week to record extra scenes at Clestrain.

Mr Halcro-Johnston made an appeal for as many people as possible to come along to the house on the evening of June 1 and show their support for the project.

“The BBC film crew are coming up to film on that night and of course they will be looking for that demonstration of support,” he said.

He continued: “I think the next meeting of the Friends of the Orkney Boat Museum will be on June 1, at the Hall of Clestrain.”

Mr Halcro-Johnston said one of the group’s patrons, Big Brother winner Cameron Stout, is due to tell the story of John Rae on the evening.

Hadhirgaan will provide the music.

Mr Halcro-Johnston said he felt the project had a good chance of winning through to the final of the Restoration competition, provided thousands of people voted for the project.

“I feel with that sort of support, the Orkney network can win this project,” he said.

Mr Halcro-Johnston said it is hoped that a website detailing the proposals for Clestrain will be completed soon.

This could contain links to other sites such as the Stromness Museum, Scapa Flow Visitor Centre and Museum, Longhope Lifeboat Museum and others.

“We need to get the message through to everyone and to do this means doing it through websites,” he said.

Mr Halcro-Johnston, former convener of Orkney Islands Council, said more than 100 “friends” have so far joined the Orkney Boat Museum.

They have each paid £50 to join, and are now entitled to free lifelong entry to the completed museum, he added.

He said about 25 people joined, thanks to a stand that was set up at the official opening of the Stromness marina earlier this month.

Friends chairman appointed

Former Kirkwall airport manager, Mick Bain, who has been voted in as chairman of the Friends of the Orkney Boat Museum. (Picture: Alan Hodge)

Stromness resident Mick Bain was appointed as chairman of the Friends of the Orkney Boat Museum at last week’s meeting.

Mr Bain, who is a member of the Stromness community council and the former manager of Kirkwall airport, said he was happy to take up the post.

He was proposed by the director of the project, Mr Halcro-Johnston, who saw him as a suitable person to head the group.

The post was turned down by Harray potter Andrew Appleby and by Len Wilson, former boat builder and secretary of the Orkney Yole Association, who is also a director of the boat museum project.

Both felt they could not commit themselves to the post, as they are regularly out of Orkney.

Mr Bain said he felt that the Friends of the Orkney Boat Museum were more than capable of raising a good amount through fundraising efforts.

“Fundraising is something we are all familiar with. Fundraising is a regular occurrence here,” he said. “Perhaps the best way to make an impact is to have something that is new or different.”

Janette Park, an adviser to the project, suggested that the group could hold a social event such as a mariners ball, raising money through tickets for the evening.

Mr Appleby said he could fire people’s thumb prints for £2.50 each to go along with the slogan: “Thumbs up for Clestrain”.

Mr Halcro-Johnston reminded people that donations through other organisations such as grant schemes should realise the majority of the fundraising money, if the Clestrain project proves unsuccessful on the Restoration programme.

“We are not expected to try to raise £3.5 million ourselves. Frankly, I don’t think we are going to raised £3.5 million through raffles,” he said.

* Members of the public who want to show their support for the project should be at the Hall of Clestrain between 6pm and 9pm on Tuesday, June 1.