January 2010

The Lakeland Arts Trust is committed to its collection of historic steamboats and to the site upon which they are housed. We are therefore pleased to announce that, with the help of grants received from the Headley Trust and other private Foundations, we have appointed a Conservation Workshop Manager for the Windermere Steamboat Project. Adrian Stone, who previously ran his own yacht services business on the Isle of Wight, will be joining the Windermere Steamboat Project Team in February 2010.

Adrian, who visited the site in November commented - 'When I was first shown round the museum and the door to the temporary boat store was opened I felt much as Howard Carter must have done on opening Tutankhamen's tomb - it was incredible, beyond anything I could have conceived - this marvellous collection of rare treasures: boats of all shapes and design. Immediately I thought "I have to be part of this"'.

Adrian, a boat builder with 30 years of experience in building and restoring wooden yachts as early as 1888 and the re building of the Windermere steam launch "Banshee", will be responsible for the continued conservation and care of the collection of historic vessels. One of Adrian's first tasks will be to establish and equip a workshop in the former Windermere Building, the funding for which has also been secured from private Trusts and Foundations. Additional funding is currently being sought to appoint an assistant boat builder to work alongside Adrian. As a result of work and research previously undertaken by the Project Curator and an Archivist in 2007/2008, in addition to the work of external consultants, each vessel has been assessed and now has its own individual 'Conservation Management Plan' - a working document which has started to outline the conservation course each boat will travel, some eventually returning to the lake whilst others will be restored for display and future research.

Once the workshop and conservation team are established, work on site and to the boats will continue. In the meantime, the Trust is reviewing the timing and scope of the redevelopment of the Windermere Steamboat Museum and considering the final concept for the Project.

We are delighted that there are a number of statutory and private funders very keen to see progress on the development and it is hoped that this support can be translated into an exciting scheme over the next few months. The Lake District National Park Authority is also very much in favour of the development of the site and have described the redevelopment of the steamboat museum as ‘integral to the delivery’ of the Windermere Waterfront Programme - a series of regeneration projects which aim to create world class visitor destinations in the South Lakes to match its world class landscape.