Reporter Tom Curphey spoke to Kirsty Neate and Connie Lovel from Manx National Heritage and Jonathan Parry from Johnson Architects about the renovation plans at the Nautical Museum in Castletown.
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00:44 - We've planned to bring the Peggy back
00:46 to the Nautical Museum from when she came.
00:49 And as part of the goal to bring her back,
00:53 we want to really enhance the maritime history
00:57 and stories of the Isle of Man in the 18th century.
01:01 So the plan is to put Peggy at the heart of those stories,
01:04 but to tell much wider stories of global wars,
01:08 trade, revolutions, and max merchants,
01:12 and the impact of world history on the Isle of Man
01:15 at the time.
01:16 - I think it's an enormous challenge
01:18 for government at the moment.
01:19 Following the economic crisis,
01:21 it is really tough times for everyone.
01:23 And we absolutely understand that.
01:26 It is, if I can remind people
01:27 where we started on this journey.
01:28 So in 2021, we were asked by Timrod
01:32 to come back to them with a business case
01:35 of how we could bring the Peggy back.
01:38 So we've gone beyond that,
01:39 and we're saying we can develop something far better
01:42 for the benefit of the visitor economy
01:44 and for the island, for the residents,
01:46 by doing work on the whole site.
01:49 So it isn't all about the Peggy.
01:51 Now, in terms of finance,
01:53 we are making great inroads with generating our own finance.
01:58 We said that we would from the outset,
01:59 and we have been doing that.
02:00 It's important to note, though,
02:02 that some of the commitments that we have
02:03 are completely reliant upon getting the rest of the funding
02:07 and seeing that there is that political support.
02:10 If that isn't there,
02:12 we can't guarantee that that commitment will stay.
02:15 Certainly wouldn't go anywhere else.
02:16 It is just dedicated for this project.
02:18 - The inspiration is the Peggy herself.
02:22 The construction of the new boathall
02:23 is intended to be laminated timber,
02:26 like the ribs of the boat,
02:27 and internally clad with clinker,
02:30 like the Peggy's constructed with.
02:31 Externally, we're looking at metal cladding.
02:34 And the idea is that internally,
02:36 which looks like the ship's hull,
02:37 externally, it's like sails or waves
02:39 breaking over the top of the Peggy.
02:41 (wind blowing)
02:44 (wind blowing)