PEGGY EXPERT
PANEL MEETING
8th March 2016
Peggy
Conservation Facility, Cooil Road, Douglas, Isle of Man
Digest or
conversations recorded at the meeting, between:
CB Charles
Barker, Mary Rose Trust
MH Martyn
Heighton, Chair, National Historic Ships
JK John
Kearon, Maritime Conservator
And, representing
Manx National Heritage:
CW Christopher
Weeks, Conservator, Manx National Heritage, Peggy
Project Leader
MR Matthew
Richardson, Curator of Social History, Manx National Heritage
ES Edmund
Southworth, Director, Manx National Heritage
TP Tony Pass,
Chair of Trustees, Manx National Heritage
Peggy Expert Panel
This was a panel
meeting convened to discuss technical and ethical issues surrounding the
conservation of the yacht Peggy
(1789). The meeting took place on the 8th of March, 2016, at the Peggy Conservation Facility in Douglas,
Isle of Man. The three guests had the opportunity during the previous
evening to visit Quayle’s boat house at the Nautical Museum in Castletown and
to view the stables and yard adjacent that might serve as a new home for the Peggy in due course.
Composition of
the panel
The three experts were chosen for their depth of experience in the conservation,
presentation and promotion of heritage ships and boats. There are few
comparable recent projects in the UK that have not benefited from their
respective inputs.
Structure of the
discussion
The conversation
was allowed to develop as naturally as possible so as to encourage free
comment, positive and negative. Audio of the entire meeting was recorded and
forms the basis of the summary below. Topics included:
The design of Peggy and her significance
Options for
treatment
Project management
and fundraising
Options for display
Sustainability of
the Peggy exhibit
Summary
On the design of Peggy and her significance
MH firmly stated
that, to his knowledge, Peggy is the
oldest complete vessel on the UK National registers of historic ships and small
boats and may be the oldest such vessel in Europe. Her significance is
uncontested. JK saw the structure as
the most important feature, followed by the paint. To the fixings (nails) he
attached low importance not least because of their parlous condition. In relation
to the paint, Mr Kearon drew a distinction in relative significance between the
decorated transom and the rest of the boat. All three experts agreed that Peggy is not a particularly well-built
boat; the frames and floors are rather irregular and the iron fixings are of
poor quality.
On the Options for Treatment
Because of her
small size the long-term conservation of Peggy will be more easily achieved than that, for example, of a war ship.
Fixings
The experts were
firmly of the opinion that the fixings - iron nails – need to be excised and
discarded. John Kearon thought a lot of the damage they are doing is hidden
under the paint. He said the nails are what he would term ‘rose-headed’; they
were driven through the hull from the outside and their heads depressed and
damaged the timber as they were driven home. They are long and their tails were
subsequently bent over inside the boat. John and Charles Barker suggested we
remove them by pulling up (or snapping off) the bent tails then use a
combination of narrow core drills and tapping from behind to push them back
out. The quantity of ‘infected’ timber it would be desirable to drill out could
then be decided case-by-case. Charles suggested re-fixing with treenails in
suitable timber and estimated the job at two years for two persons. None of the
experts were convinced overpaint removal wold be a necessary precursor to this.
Overpaint
The experts were
dubious about the technical possibility of removing the overpaint, but
relatively relaxed about the possible aesthetic impact of doing so. As with the
removal of the nails they considered it important to undertake one job at a
time and to re-assess the issues each time. Edmund Southworth added that
conservation technology is continually evolving and that we don’t necessarily have to tackle non-urgent
problems in the short-term.
Labour
We moved on to
discuss who might undertake the work. Edmund Southworth and Martyn Heighton had
a productive conversation about the potential participation of Manx workers in
heritage training networks across, some of which Martyn’s organisation has facilitated.
The Engineering Department at the IOM College and the potential for apprenticeships
were both mentioned.
Public engagement
None of the panel
members thought opening the restoration workshop to the public was a good idea.
On Project Management and Funding
The panel expressed
strongly their opinion that the management of the project and the support for
decision making should be strengthened. Edmund Southworth and Tony Pass for MNH both
agreed to take this issue on as a matter of priority. As Mr Pass pointed out,
the Peggy project is set to “grow and
grow”.
Charles Barker and
Martyn Heighton both felt we should step-up our publishing drive to include at
least, and in the first instance, an information brochure on the conservation of Peggy. Edmund Southworth suggested this
might integrate well with the current drive to update our site brochures.
Charles thought publishing our plans for the conservation on the internet was a
necessary step. He also felt a more substantial book would sell well, with Christopher
Weeks and Matthew Richardson the most likely authors. Martyn Heighton suggested
that the Isle of Man might host a meeting of the United Kingdom Maritime
Heritage Forum (possibly 2018). There were fruitful discussions on the role of
the Friends of Manx National Heritage and agreement that a proliferation of
friends groups is undesirable. Edmund Southworth suggested a small-scale
academic seminar for an invited audience to discuss the state of our knowledge
might be desirable, sooner rather than later.
On Options for Display
The panel were
unanimously of the opinion that Peggy
is now a museum object, or as Charles Barker put it “a piece of terrestrial
timber architecture”. They were adamant that Peggy should be displayed with her masts up and, if possible,
rigged. Whilst this would have a radical impact on the location of the new
display, the panel strongly agreed a maritime location in Castletown should be
sought. They were very enthusiastic about the positive possibilities for
telling strong stories and about the economic opportunities for Castletown the
new facility could offer.
Edmund Southworth
added “The display rationale will have to be debated and clearly documented –
paint or not paint, rig or not rig, etc., perhaps by some form of peer review”.
Sustainability of the new display
In relation to
sustainability, Edmund Southworth told us none of the Islands attractions is
sustainable in a free-market sense. MNH would adopt the approach of Royal
Institute of British Architects to this question and work through the proposals
for display methodically. Whilst the IOM Government cannot fund this wholly if
at all, the potential for attracting a wealthy benefactor is considerable.
Replica Peggy
The participants
each voiced concern over the sustainability of a running replica. Martyn
Heighton added that commissioning a replica is a serious undertaking and is
usually done with a specific purpose in mind, such as was the case with the Matthew out of Bristol.
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