newsletter - The Peter Pan Moat Brae Trust

dates for your diaryJM Barrie on DisplayJM Barrie will be featured in the nextwindow display at the Family History Centrein Glasgow Road, Dumfries. The displayis currently being put together by MoragMcCann and Sheila Todd of the FamilyHistory Society and will run from 27thMay until 12th August. Dumfries Academyhas kindly loaned memorabilia relating toBarrie’s connection with the school whichincludes a piece of the desk he carved withhis initials back in 1873!Their present display features ThomasCarlyle, one of Barrie’s great heroes, so it isfitting that Barrie follows in his footstepsat the Family History Centre. Over thelast two years Sheila and Morag havebeen showcasing famous people with aDumfries and Galloway connection whichhas covered a diverse range of successfulcareers including writers, doctors, scientistsand engineers.forgottencarolsa warm WELCOME TO… Dame Barbara Kelly (Chair) Jacquie Brown Flora Burns Christopher Craig Roger Grant Les Jardine (Company Secretary)Newtonairds GardenAnyone for Tea?June will be a good month to indulge ANDbenefit the Trust.• A ‘Peter Pan Never Never Land Tea Party’will be held at Kippford Hall from 2pm until4pm on Sunday 9th June.• A Strawberry Tea will be held at Scaurbank,Keir Mill, near Thornhill from 2pm until 4pmon Sunday 23rd June.Catherine Colwell, who has joined the Trustas its new Marketing and Events Assistant.Catherine will be working part-time to helpthe Trust with its events programme andfundraising activities over the coming year.She brings with her a wealth of experiencein marketing and a background in music andevents management including Theatre by theLake’s year-round programme of literature andmusic festivals and the conference programmeat DG One in Dumfries. She is also a Trustee ofthe Peter Pan Moat Brae Trust Trevor Knowles Allen Paterson Pam Pumphrey Les Sutton (Treasurer) Stuart ThomsonFounding Chairman, Roger WindsorMoat Brae, George Street, Dumfries DG1 1EA Tel: 01387 255549PPMBT is a Registered Scottish Charity Number SC041382 Company Number SC363695.Garden OpenJames and Carol Coutts will be openingtheir beautiful garden in aid of the Trustonce again this year. Newtonairds Garden,near Irongray, Dumfries is a 1-acre gardenwhich is home to the National Collection ofHosta plantaginea cultivars and hybrids. Itwill be open on Sunday evening, 16th Junefrom 5 until 9pm. Entry is £4 with wine andnibbles or tea and biscuits available. Seewww.newtonairds-hostasandgarden.co.ukfor details and directions.Gentle JazzGeoff Keating and his orchestrawill provide an evening of GentleJazz on Friday 6th Septemberat 7.30pm at St George’s Hall,Dumfries. Tickets will cost £12,to include a finger food supper– please bring your own drinksand glasses.Only 165 more shopping days (at the time of publication) to the Trust’s annual carol concert at StGeorge’s Hall, Dumfries, on Tuesday 10th December. The concert this year will feature the FeralChoir in a programme of forgotten carols narrated by local author, Tom Pow.More details of these and other events will be posted on our website.Do we have your e-mail address?If you have received a hard copy of this newsletter through the post, it’s because we don’t have your e-mail address. Beingable to send you this newsletter electronically saves us the cost of postage and stationery – so we can still keep you up todate with progress but devote more money towards our ultimate aim of bringing Moat Brae back to life. If you would liketo receive future newsletters this way, please send your e-mail address to friends@peterpanmoatbrae.org. We will not useyour details for any purpose other than to keep you informed of our progress and activities.Dumfries and Galloway Arts Festival. Catherinesaid: “I am delighted to be part of this projectand can’t wait to get started. Moat Brae is sucha magical place with the potential to inspirethe imaginations of all of us. It has the capacityto bring different generations together and tobring great things to the people of Dumfriesand Galloway – a bright light highlightingthe creativity of our region and a wonderfulattraction!”Project Director, Cathy AgnewTrust Administrator, Iain WilsonMarketing and Events Assistant,Catherine ColwellFriends Coordinator, Caroline Buckmoat brae memoriesMoat Brae Operating Theatre - Early DaysThis summer sees the publication of a fascinatinginsight into the history of Moat Brae House duringthe twentieth century, based on the recollectionsof its staff, patients and local residents while thehouse served as a nursing home. The publication,‘Moat Brae Memories’, has been produced by ateam of volunteers with financial support fromBibliographic Data Services, and is based oninterviews with some 30 people over the last twoyears.Moat Brae started as a family home in the 1820sbut served from 1914 until 2001 as a nursinghome, providing a private facility for surgery,medicine and respite care for the elderly. Severalcolourful memories from this time have beencollected. The house had a full complement ofnursing, auxiliary and housekeeping staff and asmall, purpose built operating theatre and so wasable to call upon skilled and dedicated surgeonsfrom Dumfries and Galloway Royal Infirmary. TheFRIENDS OFPETER PAN MOAT BRAE TRUSTNEWSLETTERtheatre may not have been as sophisticated asone in a major hospital, but its record of neverhaving had an infection could not be beaten -scrubbing in hot water and lysol between eachoperation saw to that!In its heyday tonsillectomy was a much morecommon procedure than it is today. Tales aboundof children having tonsils and adenoids taken outthere. There was sometimes so much pressureon space that young children had to share beds- one at the top and one at the bottom - maybeafter a day when as many as eight children hadhad these procedures!The book also contains several images ofthe house, some of which were donated byinterviewees and date back to the early twentiethcentury, as well as of the garden, which was keptin an immaculate condition throughout thelifetime of Moat Brae Nursing Home. Altogether,the book provides a unique insight into therunning of the house as a medical facility over85 years and confirmation of the affection withwhich it is regarded by Dumfries residents.Copies of ‘Moat BraeMemories’ will beon sale from earlyJune priced £4and are expectedto be availablefrom a numberof outlets inand aroundDumfries.Next Steps For Design Of Moat BraePPMBT Trustees have recently taken a number of importantdecisions for the future development of Moat Brae. AsPhase B of the capital project get underway, architects LDN,from Edinburgh, have been appointed to lead the DesignTeam while consultants DBA, from Sheffield, have beencommissioned to produce an Activity and Learning Planand an Audience Development, Business and MarketingPlan, of which more details can be found on page 3.MOAT BRAEMemoriesIn this Issue...summer 2013P2 I Spreading the WordSanquhar AcademyThe making of MoatBrae MemoriesP3 I Phase A RestorationMaking plansfor Moat BraeP4 I JM Barrieon DisplayGarden OpenForgotten CarolsDo we have youre-mail address?Welcome To…Lino PrintsThe Peter Pan themedpictures used throughoutthis newsletter wereproduced by students atSanquhar Academy at alino cut workshop withlocal illustrator, ClareMelinsky – see page 2 fordetails.Architect Mark Hopton, of LDN, says ‘I am thrilled to beinvolved in the next stage of this exciting and prestigiousproject. I much look forward to working with the PeterPan Moat Brae Trust over the next three years and helpingto create a successful and sustainable visitor attraction’.Look out for news of progress with the design in our nextnewsletter.friends@peterpanmoatbrae.org www.peterpanmoatbrae.org Tel: 01387 255549

Credit: University of the West of Scotlandmoat brae newsspreading the wordMoat Brae Project Director Cathy Agnew has recentlygiven presentations on the Trust’s plans to a number ofcommunity groups in the region including: the StewartryRetired Teachers Association, Loreburn RetirementGroup, Dumfries Ladies Luncheon Club and Colvend WRI.The meetings have all been very well-attended and thepresentations greeted with interest and enthusiasm.Sanquhar Academy TeamRewarded For CreativityCreative experience day with Clare MelinskyIn the last Newsletterwe reported on theteam of eight seniorpupils from SanquharAcademy who won theUniversity of the Westof Scotland EnterpriseChallenge for theirideas for the futuremarketing of the centrefor children’s literatureat Moat Brae. Sincethen the pupils haveparticipated in a seriesof team activities,including: giving apresentation to a Rotary Club of Dumfries meeting in theCairndale Hotel; a more relaxed evening meal at HullabalooCredit: University of the West of ScotlandCaroline Buck and Flora Burns, representing the Trust,joined participants from 16 other Friends’ Groups at theBritish Association of Friends of Museums Scotland GetTogether in April at the National Gallery of Modern Artin Edinburgh. Participants ranged from the NationalGalleries of Scotland to the Birks Cinema in Aberfeldy, allsharing experiences of fund raising, organising eventsand recruiting friends and volunteers.Restaurant in Dumfries; and a ‘Creative Experience Day’ atA’ the Airts in Sanquhar, where pupils participated in alino cut workshop led by local Illustrator Clare Melinsky(pictured). During the workshop pupils designed printsbased on their original themes for Moat Brae and some ofthese are illustrated in this newsletter. Who knows wherethese may appear in the future!Project Director Cathy Agnew andD&G Life Editor Andrea Thompsontry the Zip Wire at Laggan OutdoorIn December, two of the pupilsalso participated in the Trust’sCarol Concert at St George’sChurch, Dumfries. The finalevent took place recentlyat Laggan Outdoor, nearGatehouse of Fleet, wherethe pupils enjoyed a zip wireexperience. The cold, wet andwindy conditions left the pupils,as well as our Project Director,Cathy Agnew (pictured) with anexperience to remember!Phase A Restoration - Challenges and SurprisesMoat Brae Site Manager John ArmstrongJohn Armstrong,site manager forthe current PhaseA restoration worksat Moat Brae, tooktime out from abusy schedule toshare with trusteeFlora Burns some ofthe challenges andsurprises in makingMoat Brae stable,windproof andwaterproof - the mainobjectives of theproject.John is employed by T Graham and Son, the buildingcontractors on Phase A of the project which is being led byarchitects ARPL. The biggest challenge so far, he said, hadbeen propping the inside of the structure to prevent theimminent danger of collapse. The task was complicatedby the need to ensure his men were also going to be safeas they carried out the work. Challenges yet to comeinclude the removal of the lift shaft and workings, whichcould involve crane work, and two cast iron boilers whichpowered the stoves and were referred to affectionately bynursing staff as Jock and Jenny.The roof structure, he said, was unique. It would haveneeded many different tradesmen to put it in placeand shows evidence of a high order of carpentry andstonemasonry skills. John has a much smaller team ofmen but with the help of modern technology he thinksreplacing the roof beams will be an easier and quickertask than it was when the house was constructed.So far almost 40% of the cornice work has been saved,providing a good basis for copying the rest. Fragmentsof glass (see photograph) from the circular lantern in thecupola have also been collected making it possible tocopy the original etching when the lantern is repaired.Trying to get the windows authentically restored isproving something of a puzzle as some of them are sobadly damaged there is no record of the astragals whichmake up the framing for the glazing. John would bedelighted to hear from anyone who has a photograph ofthe back of the house showing how the glazing had beendone or anyone who worked there and can recall how itlooked.John’s team are ready for the next challenge of replacingwindow lintels - the bay window at the rear in particularwill have to be taken down piece by piece before it canbe rebuilt. But he reports that work is progressing well.When asked how this project compared with others hehad managed he said,“Challenging, excitingand a tremendousachievement for all!”Glass rescued from former circular lanternat Moat BraeThe Making of ‘Moat BraeMemories’‘Moat Brae Memories’, featured on the front cover, wascompiled by Balmaclellan-based volunteers SheilaMacKenzie and Alan and Philippa Pallister. The ideastemmed from the number of people who attended theMoat Brae Open Day in September 2011 with connectionsto the building and stories they wanted to tell. ProjectDirector Cathy Agnew approached Sheila, a formereducation inspector, to undertake the work and she inturn recruited Alan and Philippa who had experience ofsocial history research and publications.The new book pulls together the memories of some 30contributors, many the result of face-to-face interviews,often with people who have since left the area but wantedto recall and record their connection to Dumfries. This,said Sheila, was the aspect of the task which most struckher – that so many people had such an affection for MoatBrae, both as a building and for the quality of nursing carethey experienced there.Given the age of several of the contributors, Sheila wasalso pleased to be able to capture this information now,before it is lost, but hopes that its publication will stirothers to come forward with their stories. The Trust wouldparticularly like to hear from ‘Moat Brae Babies’: peoplewho were born at Moat Brae. All those who assisted inthe production of the book are acknowledged withinthe document. The book will be a vital resource for theinterpretation of Moat Brae’s history, and its place withinDumfries’ heritage, when it opens as a children’s literaturecentre.Making plans for Moat BraeDBA Consulting, from Sheffield, have been appointed bythe Trust to support the development of the Children’sLiterature Centre at Moat Brae. The firm have a strong trackrecord in helping heritage sites, museums and historichouses to develop their plans in order to gain support andfunding from other organisations. Some of the projectsthey have been involved with can be seen at www.dbaconsult.co.uk.DBA will be working with the Trust to develop the activityand learning plan plan as well as the audience development,business and marketing plan for Moat Brae. They will belooking at how the Centre, once it is open, can supportlearning and encourage people to become involved intheir local heritage. In particular, they will develop ideasfor new activities in the Centre and will be looking at howthose activities can be financially sustainable over time.Working on the project will be Fiona Elliott, RebeccaMcIntyre and Kate Elliott. Over the next few weeks andmonths they will be seeking people’s views about theactivities and events that could take place once thebuilding is restored and asking questions about what theproject can do for local people and tourists as well as howthe Trust can work with partners in Dumfries and beyond.DBA will be organising consultation events and contactingspecific people by email. However, they would also be veryinterested in receiving comments, ideas and suggestionsfrom readers of this newsletter. If you would like tocontribute to the exercise, please feel free to contact usdirectly on friends@peterpanmoatbrae.org.friends@peterpanmoatbrae.orgwww.peterpanmoatbrae.org Tel: 01387 255549