friends@peterpanmoatbrae.org www.peterpanmoatbrae.org Tel: 01387 255549

win

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2014

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FrienDs oF peter pan moat brae trust

newsletter

national centre for children’s literature & storytelling

if you would like to volunteer with ppmbt please email us at: friends@peterpanmoatbrae.org

this highly significant house and site of unique cultural heritage would not have been saved if a new and sustainable use had not been found.

this decision gives us the green light to secure its future and create something really inspiring at the birthplace of peter pan.

now it’s time to roll up our sleeves and get on with delivering this truly inspiring project.

Dame Barbara Kelly, Chairman

the trust is most grateful for the support and help given by the local authority in Dumfries and Galloway.

Momentum is building as the dream of creating a major international

attraction here in Dumfries is fast becoming a reality. Tucked away in a secluded and enchanted corner of Dumfries, Moat Brae is widely acknowledged as being the Birthplace of Peter Pan. The house itself is a fine example of Georgian architecture designed by Walter Newall in 1823.

Exciting plans and proposals for Moat Brae to become a National Centre for Children’s Literature and Storytelling have now been approved by Dumfries and Galloway Council and designs for the creation of a Neverland Discovery Garden are well underway. In October, Creative Scotland announced a Large Capital Stage 2 Award of £687,500 towards the £5m capital fund-raising target.

Chairman of the Peter Pan Moat Brae Trust, Dame Barbara Kelly said: “We are delighted to have reached such a significant milestone both for the Moat Brae project and for Dumfries.

This is a very important project which will create a major attraction and focus for local, national and international visitors. It has the potential to contribute to the local economic, social and cultural regeneration of Dumfries and to attract much-needed inward investment with the creation of up to 35 new jobs.”

The architectural proposals have been the subject of very wide, informal public consultation over the past 8 months.

Trustee Flora Burns said: “More than 2,500 people visited the house and garden during our spring and summer Open Days and their comments have been overwhelmingly positive and supportive of our plans. So many people have strong personal connections and associations with Moat Brae and have many stories to tell”.

This stage is the culmination of five years’ hardwork, determination and commitment by our Trustees, volunteers and staff as well as all of our many partner organisations, supporters and friends. As Cathy Agnew, our Project Director, says “Five years in and only another three to go!”

© Graeme Robertson

moat brae welcomes You

Moat Brae and its valiant team of volunteers have continued to

welcome many visitors throughout the Summer and Autumn months. We opened the house over a series of weekends for free public tours and an opportunity to find out more about our plans for the National Centre for Children’s Literature & Storytelling.

We always try to accommodate requests from groups, tourists and individuals who ask to see ’behind the scenes’ in this wonderful place.

Visitors have included sixty extremely enthusiastic delegates from the 2014 Commonwealth Youth Summit, representatives from the Association of Building Preservation Trusts UK, Noblehill Primary School, Playworks Nursery, D&G College Childcare Students, Michael Russell MSP, Cabinet Secretary for Education and Lifelong Learning, Aileen McLeod MSP, the Holburne Museum, Princes Regeneration Trust, Heritage Lottery Fund, Local Council Officers and Elected Members as well as many local people of every generation.

There have been international visitors from Holland, Oregon, Florida, Hong Kong, Canada,

France and Germany, many of whom have a family connection to Dumfries or Moat Brae.

Chairman of the Peter Pan Moat Brae Trust, Dame Barbara Kelly said: “Moat Brae is such a special place for so many people and, after the huge effort to save the house, it has been wonderful to share stories with around 2,500 visitors who have already stepped over the threshold in 2014 to see inside for themselves. Our amazing vounteers have great enthusiasm for the whole project and have supported so many open days so that many more people have seen Moat Brae as it comes back to life”.

we were in Dumfries a short while ago. we wanted to find

a way down to the river to have a picnic as we waited for our train departure. we had our suitcases with us.

as it happened, we were invited to go to the river via the gardens of this wonderful house. what an amazing experience this was for us. magical experience. peter pan was a huge part of our lives as young people.

i still look at the photos we took of the house. in my imagination, i can see peter pan flying out of that window.

anne bauer, canada

friends@peterpanmoatbrae.org www.peterpanmoatbrae.org Tel: 01387 255549

moat brae news If you would like to organise an event in aid of Peter Pan Moat Brae Trust please call Catherine Colwell

01387 255 549 or email catherine@peterpanmoatbrae.org

Forest education initiativeMoat Brae garden is a magical place for exploring and letting imaginations run wild. Phoebe Marshall (Forest School leader) and Lesley Smith (Forestry Commission ranger) worked with pupils from Loreburn Primary over two sessions in June to enjoy some outdoor activities inspired by the adventures of Peter Pan and the Lost Boys.

“After making oak button ‘kisses’ with names on, both groups started the session with a ’treasure hunt’ of natural objects to get to know the area and learn a bit about the local flora. We divided into Red Indians, Lost Boys and Pirates. The first group then made Never Bird nests amongst the branches and tree stumps whilst the second group made Tinker Bell fairy homes. These creations were later discovered by visitors to Moat Brae over the next few days, much to their delight. Both groups finished by toasting marshmallows on a little fire. The Lost Boys actually cooked mamee apples in Neverland but I think they would still have approved. The pupils from Loreburn are very keen to come again and try many more activities. They have a good knowledge of Peter Pan and were inspired to play in the ‘enchanted’ garden where the story was conceived.”

phoebe marshall

Image © Subject 17 Productions

i wish i had my own castle and when i wanted to go in it i would be in it in the blink of an eye and the castle was floating...child’s comment left during moat brae open Day

birlinn booksTwo stunning and quite remarkable new children’s books, each with close connections to Moat Brae, will be published in the Spring of 2015 – the first to be inspired by the house and gardens since Peter Pan himself! Here’s a sneak preview…

sixteen string Jack and the Garden of adventureWritten by Tom Pow and illustrated by Ian Andrew

One day, Daisy’s grandmother takes her to an overgrown garden, the garden of Moat Brae. Many, many years before other children had played in that garden – Sixteen String Jack and Dare Devil Dick. But it was only Sixteen String Jack whose fame would never die, for he grew up to become J.M. Barrie, creator of Peter Pan. And it was in this garden that he discovered the magic that would produce the most famous character in children’s literature.

peter pan: the Graphic novelWritten and illustrated by Stephen White, ‘Stref’

Peter Pan is a familiar tale to the many who have been enchanted by the adventures of the boy who wouldn’t grow up. In this graphic novel, Stephen White goes back to the very heart of Barrie’s original tale to create a story that is dark, magical , charming and authentic.

Both books are beautifully illustrated with authentic features from Moat Brae House in Dumfries. They will be published by Birlinn Ltd in the Spring of 2015.

scottish Youth theatre’s macbeth weekPPMBT had the pleasure of nominating three young people to take part in a week of free workshops which culminated in a shared performance at Dumfries Academy in the Summer. Feedback from the organisers was exceptionally encouraging as three fabulously talented young people with great acting and writing potential emerged from the experience. Amy McFall, Rosie Blackett and Dillon Coulthart are names to look out for in future…

Dillon Coulthart says: “I am currently undertaking an Associate Artist Internship at Electric Theatre Workshop for one year, and hope to gain a place at a top drama school in the UK for 2015 entry…. being involved with the Scottish Youth Theatre during Shakespeare Week was certainly exhilarating, challenging and an utterly brilliant experience. This course taught me how to approach Shakespeare’s speeches/language with confidence and fluency.”

W W W.B I R L I N N.C O.U K

West Newington House, 10 Newington Road, Edinburgh EH9 1QD

ISBN 9781 780 272 269Publication: 1 May 2015Extent: 32ppRights: World

Birlinn Ltd.West Newington House10 Newington RoadEdinburgh EH9 1QSTel +44 (0)131 655 1528Fax +44 (0)131 668 4466info@birlinn.co.uk

Publicity and Marketing DirectorJan Rutherfordjan.ppw@janrutherford.co.uk

Export Manager, Digital Development Manager, Sports EditorPeter Burnspeter@birlinn.co.uk

Rights represented by Script AgencyMaria WhiteScriptagency2010@aol.co.ukMobile: +44 7866713512

Sales DirectorLaura Poyntonlaura@birlinn.co.uk

CONTACTS:

eBook ISBN 9780857907974Price £9.99Format 224x259mm (landscape) Hbk

Category: Children’sBic code YNH, YFTIllustrations: Colour illus. throughout

SIXTEEN STRING JACK

and the Garden of Adventure

SIXTEEN STRING JACK and the Garden of Adventure

Tom Pow is an award-winning writer and poet. He was the first ever Writer in Residence at the Edinburgh International Book Festival from - and was Writer in Residence at the National Library of Scotland in . His previous books for children include Callum’s Big Day and Who is the World For?, which won the Scottish Arts Council’s Children’s Book of the Year .

Ian Andrew is an award-winning animator and artist who has illustrated the work of Charles Dickens and Robert Louis Stevenson, as well as Russell Hoban, Penelope Lively and Michael Morpurgo. In he was awarded a prestigious Sendak Fellowship.

1

Coloured by Fin Cramb

J.M. BARRIE’S

by Stephen White

the “two ‘b’s” - literary Giants weekend

Dumfries: Town of Inspiration - the place where Robert Burns wrote many of his greatest songs and the town that nurtured the imagination of JM Barrie, author of Peter Pan.

PPMBT and Dumfries & Galloway Arts Festival celebrated two literary giants over a weekend in July when we opened Moat Brae for free tours to complement performances of Life, Love & Liberty – A Burns Pageant. With a cast of local amateur actors and professionals, the story of Robert Burns’ final years was brought to life in the streets where he walked, wrote his poetry, lived and died. Gavin Paul (Burns) and Joanne McGuiness (Jean Armour) visited Moat Brae during rehearsals where they were interviewed, along with Dame Barbara Kelly, for ITV Border.

Joanne McGuiness is appearing at The King’s Theatre Glasgow as Wendy in their Christmas production of Peter Pan.

summer GardeningThe 2014 gardening season proved to be initially challenging. The warm Spring and rocketing pollen count, coupled with volunteer drop-off was daunting. However two more stalwart Dumfries residents were’ press ganged’, Domino pizza delivery finally worked out where 101 George Street was, the tulip tree flowered, the honey mushrooms erupted, Peter Pan smiled and all was finally well. P.S We still really need more help for 2015. If you are interested in getting involved please get in touch through the office.

caroline buck, Friends and Volunteers coordinator

tribute to a ‘great explorer of the imagination’A bouquet of flowers was found outside Moat Brae on a rainy day in August. The ink had run, but the anonymous messages read:

“Robin Williams RIPDidn’t know where else to leave these. You’ll always be my Peter Pan – never grow old and live forever. I hope ‘Death’ is the greatest adventure of them all xxx”

Robin Williams played Peter Pan in the 1991 Steven Spielberg movie ‘Hook’, staring alongside Dustin Hoffman (Hook) and Julia Roberts (Tink), Bob Hoskins and Maggie Smith.

Image © Andy Jardine

friends@peterpanmoatbrae.org www.peterpanmoatbrae.org Tel: 01387 255549

You can find out more about the work of the peter pan moat brae trust at www.peterpanmoatbrae.org. to discuss sponsorship and donations please call cathy agnew, project Director on 01387 255 549

or email info@peterpanmoatbrae.org

moat brae news Our volunteers need help to maintain the garden at Moat Brae. If you would like to volunteer with the Peter Pan Moat Brae Trust please get in

touch at 01387 255 549 or email friends@peterpanmoatbrae.org

scottish pre-school play association (sppa)

SPPA is Scotland’s largest Third Sector provider of support services for almost 1,000 early learning and childcare groups spread across 32 local authorities. These Playgroups and Parent and Toddler Groups look to SPPA

to guide and support them in curriculum, management, sustainability and business matters. We also increasingly work directly with young children (0-5) and their parents/carers, adopting a two-generation approach to shared learning through play, so that parents are facilitated to improve outcomes for their children.

SPPA was established 47 years ago and continues to thrive and grow as the staff and members strive to provide the best start for young children across Scotland. We are now in the process of changing our name to ‘Early Years Scotland’.

Dumfries and Galloway is one of SPPA’s favourite locations! We have a number of staff based here and many projects underway in this beautiful part of Scotland.

Clare Carson, SPPA Development and Support Officer and I were absolutely thrilled to visit Moat Brae in August. What a very special and memorable experience! The idea of restoring this incredible house and garden to its original 1823 beauty - and creating a national Centre for Children’s Literature and Storytelling, is nothing short of ‘brilliance at its best’!

At SPPA, promoting and supporting young children’s early literacy is one of our critical cornerstones. We are therefore very excited about the prospect of supporting this wonderful, unique and valuable project. We believe the planned activities will bring wide-ranging and far-reaching benefits for Scotland’s children and families.

Jean carwood-edwards, chief executive, sppa

Flowering tulip treeallen paterson, trustee, and world expert on trees explains...

The garden at Moat Brae has three fine trees that JM Barrie would have known. There are two deodar cedars, native to the Western Himalayas, and a tulip tree which towers over the house. It is probably over a hundred years old and has celebrated 2014 by flowering in late June and July. This is not a regular event in Scotland; doubtless last year’s good summer helped by ripening the wood and initiating the flower buds.

Liriodendron tulipifera is a native of Eastern North America where it attains 200 feet in height in the deep, damp valleys of Georgia and the Carolinas. Introduced to Britain in the late 17th Century (Bishop Compton grew it at Fulham Palace in London in 1688), it seldom reaches half that.

The tulip-shaped flowers are beautiful in detail but do not make much of a show on the tree (unlike their magnolia relations which are sometimes, erroneously, called tulip tree). More striking are the strangely-shaped leaves, as if the point has been bitten off. This is shared by its only relation, Liriodendron chinense, from Hupeh. Both species colour well in autumn, again after a warm summer. Our tree should perform well this year.

Look out for references to Moat Brae and many Tulip Tree leaves scattering across the pages of Stevie White’s new Comic Novel.

our Hungry crocodile

Many of you who have visited Moat Brae over past months will have met our ticking crocodile… He is now covered in signatures and has been very well fed over the warmer months. Now the temperature is dropping we won’t be running so many open days until next Spring, so he may get even hungrier – all ‘donations’ welcome (unless you know where we can find Captain Hook!).

oral Histories project

Trained volunteers are busy collecting the fascinating oral histories from former patients and staff at Moat Brae when it was a private hospital. Each interviewee gets a copy of the recorded interview and it is also shared with Edinburgh University as part of their study of the changing everyday life of Dumfries and Galloway through the centuries.

In the future visitors to Moat Brae will be able to listen to these oral histories as part of a permanent exhibition on Moat Brae’s story as a private hospital and will hopefully be inspired to add their own.

Flora burns, trustee

Image © Dawn Love

What a magical and emotive day this has been...

“The Big Moat Brae Neverland Doodle” as part of The Big Draw festival was a resounding success - with over 160 people coming to visit Moat Brae and soaking up the opportunity to draw their own Neverland.

The wonder, enthusiasm, joy and gratitude everyone showed was quite overwhelming.

Sleeping Giants would like to say a huge Thank You to artists Katharine Wheeler & Cara McNaught for their vision & expertise; and to all the wonderful people at Moat Brae Peter Pan Trust for inviting us to come play in this amazing space & supporting us in bringing today to life.

This is only the start….The Big Moat Brae Neverland Doodle will be on display at various events including the production of Peter Pan at Easterbrook Hall this Christmas. Come along and see it and you may be able to add your own little bit of Neverland...

moat brae news ‘Thanks to all our volunteers who care for Moat Brae house and gardens and act as tour guides, marshals, sales people, gardeners, envelope stuffers, cake bakers, oral history

interviewers, admin supporters etc , etc. WE COULDN’T DO ALL THIS WITHOUT YOU!’

friends@peterpanmoatbrae.org www.peterpanmoatbrae.org Tel: 01387 255549

the big moat brae neverland Doodle by sleeping Giants (26 oct 14)

Moat Brae, George Street, Dumfries DG1 1EA Tel: 01387 255549PPMBT is a Registered Scottish Charity Number SC041382 Company Number SC363695.

THE PETER PAN MOAT BRAE TRUST PATRON, JOANNA LUMLEY Dame Barbara Kelly (Chair) Jacquie Brown Flora Burns Christopher Craig Simon James Les Jardine (Company Secretary)

Trevor Knowles (Vice Chair) Allen Paterson Pam Pumphrey Les Sutton (Treasurer) Stuart ThomsonFounding Chairman, Roger Windsor

Project Director, Cathy Agnew

Trust Administrator, Iain Wilson

Marketing and Events Assistant, Catherine Colwell

Friends Coordinator, Caroline Buck

Keep up to Date - Follow us on FacebooK & twitterWe regularly post news updates and photographs on Facebook & Twitter, you can find the links on our website www.peterpanmoatbrae.org

Dotty Designs. What a lucky bride! This is the cake that was made by Dotty Designs for a lady who bid for it at the 2013 Christmas Auction in aid of Peter Pan Moat Brae Trust.

Anne Bennett and family who raised over £1,000 for the Trust with her fabulous Peter Pan Neverland Supper with Surprises (including a performance by

Colvend Primary School) – Colvend is now sponsoring a Chamber Floor window at Moat Brae.

Newtonairds Hostas & Gardens for their Open Garden event in June and for providing the beautiful Tinker Bell wreath that adorns our 2014 Charity Christmas Card.

Solway Sinfonietta for a fabulous concert at Dumfries Academy on a beautiful evening in June following

drinks with string quartet at Moat Brae. The evening raised almost £800 for the Trust.

Dumfries Male Voice Choir who performed for us at St George’s Hall, Dumfries in October raising over £500 in

donations for the Trust in a concert featuring Baritone Rory McLatchie and violinist John Gilderdale-Smith.

Miller Caldwell who has kindly donated original prints from the 1953 Walt Disney cartoon film of Peter Pan. These were gifted by a relative of Sir JM Barrie to his late father Rev. James Caldwell.

Sleeping Giants for their creative input into our first Big Draw event and for bringing so many new young friends to Moat Brae in October 2014.

on salemoat brae christmas cards

featuring Tinker Bell Wreath on the door of Moat Brae and a detail from the Saloon Mosaic.

the adventure begins… Jm barrie in Dumfries

Priced £4. The story of the author’s formative years in Dumfries.

available from midsteeple box office, polka Dot, rbFt and through our website www.peterpanmoatbrae.org

Dat

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thanks to…

mon 8th – tue 30th December

Easterbrook Hall Peter Pan Pantomime, A Raging Gibbon Production Box Office 01387 702020.

sat 13th December at 7.30pm

Crichton Memorial Church, Christmas Concert with Carols & Readings, donations in aid of PPMBT Crichton Christmas Concert.

June 2015

Scottish Youth Theatre and PPMBT present a rehearsed reading of JM Barrie’s first play Bandelero the Bandit.

June 2015

Children’s Literature Conference at The Crichton, Dumfries organised by the Glasgow University.

sunday 7th June 2pm – 4pm

Open Garden at Newtonairds Hostas & Garden to raise money for PPMBT and Dumfries North West Free Meals Project under the Scotland’s Gardens scheme.

theatre by the lakeFriends of PPMBT have organised their first theatre trip to see a production of Peter Pan at Theatre by the Lake in Keswick over the festive season. Watch out for their reviews on our facebook page and perhaps you’ll join us for our next excursion?