Alistair Hardaker | Image: Heritage Fund Trustee Dr Heather Reid with RNLI Thomas McCunn
Three maritime heritage projects share £3m, supporting an Orkney lifeboat museum, a Fife fishing vessel rebuild and a sector skills project.
The National Lottery Heritage Fund has announced £3 million of investment to support historic vessels and maritime heritage skills across the UK, awarded to three projects.
The Longhope Lifeboat Museum Trust on the island of Hoy in Orkney has been awarded more than £1.6 million to safeguard its historic lifeboat and station. The project includes the conservation of the RNLI Thomas McCunn, which the trust describes as the UK’s only seaworthy slipway-launched vintage lifeboat, and the restoration of the Grade B-listed lifeboat station. The museum tells the story of lifeboat crews who served in the Pentland Firth and Scapa Flow, including the 1969 Longhope Lifeboat Disaster, in which all eight crew members died.
In Cellardyke, Fife, the Cellardyke Trust has been awarded £1.2 million to rebuild Manx Beauty, a 1930s fishing vessel. The project will create a temporary boatyard in the grounds of Waid Academy, where pupils and the local community will gain experience through training programmes, work placements, apprenticeships and volunteering. Once rebuilt, Manx Beauty will return to Anstruther Harbour.
National Historic Ships UK has received initial support for its Leading Lights project, which aims to identify vessels most in need, review the National Historic Ships Registers and support custodians through grants, guidance and training. The Heritage Fund has awarded £140,040 in development funding, alongside £15,560 from the Pilgrim Trust, to help develop plans for a future full grant application of £1.2 million. The announcement was made at an event marking National Historic Ships UK’s 20th anniversary.
According to the Heritage Fund, 30% of the UK’s National Historic Fleet is identified as at risk. Traditional crafts including boatbuilding, spar-making, sail making and rigging are on the Red List of Endangered Crafts.
Eilish McGuinness, chief executive of the National Lottery Heritage Fund, said: “Historic vessels are a remarkable part of the UK’s heritage, representing industrial and coastal history, and encapsulating the stories of communities and places. However, we know that the skills and organisations needed to care for them are under increasing pressure.”
Hannah Cunliffe, director of National Historic Ships UK, said: “We are delighted to have received this initial support from The National Lottery Heritage Fund. Thanks to National Lottery players we can now develop our plans to strengthen and support the historic vessel sector.”
