Presenter Tom impressed by 'multi-faceted' bid
By Margaret Carr
(Story dated Thursday, July 8, 2004)

Tom Morton (left) at the Hall of Clestrain with Cameron Stout, one of the patrons of the Orkney Boat Museum.

The Orkney landscape might be a big selling point when the Hall of Clestrain appears on the Restoration television series, believes BBC Radio Scotland's Tom Morton.

"I'm very impressed with the whole project," he said, following his visit to the hall last weekend.

"I think the real appeal is not just in restoring the old house, but in the multi-faceted aspect - that it's about the boat museum and the history and rehabilitation of John Rae's reputation as well, making it three-pronged.

"Architecturally, it's a very, very striking building.

"And its setting in the landscape makes it special. Orkney is unique in the UK and the landscape might appeal to folk.

"The building looks striking against those big Orkney skies.

"The very Orcadian nature of it is very important."

As well as promoting the hall on his radio show, Tom will be writing about it in his column in The Shetland Times this week.

A film crew from the Restoration production has already shot him urging listeners to vote for the hall.

"While I was in Orkney I recorded a number of interviews with people such as Bryce Wilson, Leslie Burgher and Cameron Stout," he said.

Those interviews will be broadcast in the run-up to Tuesday's vote. Tom said he got a chance to go into the house, where the smell of hen droppings was overwhelming on the first floor.

But after restoring his home in Shetland, which is even older than the Hall of Clestrain, he was confident restoration was possible.

He thought that if the hall made it through the first round it could be competitive in the final.

"Allow the history and the vision for the future to shine through," he said.