Spring 2008

Stuart Ross joined us as Project Curator in November, and he has been steadily working through a mass of archiving and filing at the Museum, as well as familiarising himself with the collection and the priority conservation tasks to be completed. He has addressed some of the storage requirements for the textiles and small ephemeral objects, put environmental monitoring systems in place and overseen the installation of bespoke supports on all the stored boats. His research work has thrown up some interesting finds, which we will be reporting on in the future. He has also been dealing with a wealth of tricky circumstances, and has had to arrange for the removal of everything from asbestos to mink from the site! In February Stuart and other Trust project staff spent time with Martyn Heighton, Head of the National Historic Ships Unit (a non-departmental government body set up to gather information and advise on the nation’s boating and maritime heritage). The aim of the meeting was to update the NHSU on progress, and also to consider how the Windermere Steamboat Project can work with the NHSU on implementing best conservation practice. There are some exciting opportunities for collaboration and using the Windermere project as ‘case study’ material for future guidance and publications. Several of the Windermere Steamboats feature on the National Historic Ships website as ‘Designated’ or ‘Core Vessels’, indicating their importance to the Nation’s heritage alongside vessels like the Cutty Sark and SS Great Britain. Several others will feature on the new Small Ships Register, being created through the National Maritime Museum, Falmouth and one of the NMM’s Trustees, Captain Hogg, visited the site in May see some of the key exhibits.

The Trust received some good news in May when the Preservation of Industrial and Scientific Material Fund (PRISM) and the Sir John Fisher Foundation both agreed to part fund the acquisition of the Sissons Engine 591. The Trust has been in negotiations for some time to buy this engine from its owner, for use in the museum. Some people may remember that it was once used to power the steam launch Osprey, but the engine is also of great importance in its own right, being one of only two made to a particular design, the other of which was commissioned by the Science Museum in London. Originally installed in Water Viper, (a boat in the collection which was fitted with a petrol motor after the Second World War), engine 591 actually spent its first few years on display in the Victoria and Albert Musuem. The engine will form an important part of the collection, and will one day hopefully propel a boat on the lake again.