Posted by Jock on March 10, 2012 at 04:38:04 user Jock.
From Peter Highland's post 37961:
One only needs to read Chapter IX, The Collingwoods, in AR's Autobiography to see how important were the events that took place there in developing his skills and confidence as a writer. Ransome also gives us a lyrical description of the house itself with its tumbledown conservatory that was used as a studio…dining-room (once a kitchen) with its huge fireplace… with a brass bugle on the mantelshelf… There were two doors in the dining-room, one opening into the hall and one into a passage which led to the scullery, kitchen and larders.
How practical would it be to raise the large funding required to purchase Lanehead in the short time available? In the UK we are quite good at organising 'rescues' of this sort, one has only to look at the amazing achievements of the railway preservation movement in creating the magnificent heritage railways and steam centres all our the country. However, most of these developed gradually with lots of short stages, each of which involved ‘realistic’ financial objectives, and of course, the success of each stage provided credibility for the launch of the next campaign.
One similar project, which at the time seemed ‘impossible’, that comes to mind was the rescue of Percy Hunter’s boatyard near Ludham in Norfolk. Following the Percy's death in 1967, his boatyard with its fleet of un-motorised, 1930s-built, gaff-rigged yachts and half-deckers was acquired by Norfolk County Council. The fleet became a ‘floating outdoor activity centre’ – the Norfolk County Sailing Base – for local schools. Receiving tough usage, but minimal maintenance, the fleet had gradually become run-down. In 1995, the County Council, faced with increasing pressure on its budget, decided to sell the boatyard and auction off the boats.
The money required to buy the yard and the fleet in its entirety was about £300,000 – a comparable sum in purchasing power to the money required to purchase Beckfoot today. A young woman from Norwich with a flair for PR had just joined the yard as administrator, when on her first day all the yard staff received their notices. With the encouragement of her colleagues, she launched a campaign to raise the necessary funds in the local press. The national press and then the yachting press took up the story, a charitable trust was set up, the National Lottery Fund offered £200,000… The rest is history. Today the ‘Hunters Yard’ fleet is in tip-top condition and the boats are a pleasure to sail.
I suspect that if the yard staff had had more business experience, they would have known that to raise the yard’s purchase price in the time available was ‘impossible’ and the campaign would have never got off the ground. How can I be so sure? Well forty years ago, not much older, than a schoolboy, and very naïve when it came to business, I launched a campaign to save the Swanage Railway. Everybody said that the project was ‘impossible’… today the line is one of the most popular heritage lines on the South Coast.
The common denominator in the success of both the Hunters Yard and Swanage projects was that the campaigns were launched before the necessary agreements were in place and quickly succeeded in capturing the support of the local community. In the case of Swanage, though at the start all the local authorities were either sceptical or downright hostile, with the hearts and minds of the locals behind us we were able to win the support of a few local decision-makers who eventually brought round their colleagues. It was an unusual way to rescue a railway. But it worked! In the case of Hunter's Yard, the locals played all the key roles.
Arthur Ransome was arguably the most important children’s writer in the English language. His books inspired generations of achievers and brought pleasure to tens of millions. His fans have rescued Nancy Blackett, the film Swallow, and even, more modestly this discussion board. Why not Lanehead too?