if
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A Second Major Tourist Attraction for Porth Teigr - opening this July!
I noticed a smallish poster near the Doctor Who experience today announcing a new attraction called "The World of Boats - opening summer 2012". I hadn't read anything about this either here or anywhere else. Eventualy found a mention of it here.
A major new attraction featuring live boat restoration and displays of historic craft is due to open at Cardiff's Discovery Quay this summer, reports Classic Boat magazine.
Boat Lab will be run by World of Boats, the public brandname of the Eyemouth International Sailing Craft Association (EISCA) - the charity set up by maritime philanthropist Andrew Thornill QC. The Display will be the third, and largest, site opened by the charity, since it rescued the contents of Exeter Maritime Museum after closure in 1997.
The collection has now grown to about 400 craft and is in storage at various locations around the UK. The main warehouse is in Eyemouth in Scotland, where there has been a small, themed exhibition on the waterfront for some years.
The other display centre is the Tithe Barn at Beale Park, on the Thames near Pangbourne. Near the site of the annual boat show, it was opened briefly last year, then closed again for further development. Its full opening, with around 40 river craft and sailing dinghies, is scheduled to coincide with this year's Beale's Park Boat Show (8-10 June). Plans for an all-weather, purpose-built centre at Beale are the design stage, and could open within the next five years.
In Cardiff, work is forging ahead to meet a mid-July deadline. "We want to be open ahead of the new Dr Who Experience, which will be next-door," explains Stephen Walters, spokesman for World of Boats. "It will be the first major visitor attraction in Cardiff in 21 years."
Boat Lab will be based around a fully-equipped boat restoration workship, where visitors can see work being carried out and watch progress on four or five boats at a time. Around this area, additional displays will shopw up to 50 historic boats from the collection, with touch screens explaining how they were created and what they were used for.
The first large 'feature' boat in the workship will be the Elena Maria Barbara, a Russian-built replica of an 18th-century Baltic packet schooner that measuers 62ft (18.9m) on deck. She is a sister ship to the one used for the replica HMS Pickle on 2005, briefly called Cymru, a 'Tall Ship for Wales', before entering into an extensive programme of restoration under various owners.
She will be followed in 18 months' time by registered historic vessel Silvery Light (image top right), a herring drifter built in St Ives, Cornwall, in 1884 for use on the East Coast.
Eventually, the plan is to move the bulk of the collection down from Eyemouth and display it properly at the Cardiff site. "Eyemouth has been an excellent, and economical, storage facility, and it will be keeping its exhibition and boat restoration workshop," says Stephen Walters. "But sadly, it just doesn't get the visitor footfall that we need. Cardiff will give the collection the visibility it deserves."
The only thing to be seen on site at the moment is the old temporary ticketing office from outside the Castle.
All the same - bloody hell. Porth Teigr really is shaping up - and the Bay is to have a Maritime Museum again! Yipee!
Re: A Second Major Tourist Attraction for Porth Teigr - opening this July!
At last something that reflects the maritime heritage of Cardiff. Add a campbells paddle steamer and you might be able to imagine that Mermaids Quay was not there.
Re: A Second Major Tourist Attraction for Porth Teigr - opening this July!
If this is still going ahead then I think this is great news. But the lack of press coverage suggests to me there are still things to be confirmed, inc. planning.
Re: A Second Major Tourist Attraction for Porth Teigr - opening this July!
From the article:
"The boats will be displayed in a 3,500 square foot building with floor to ceiling windows looking out over the waterfront.
There will be a section on restoration and shipbuilding – known as the Boat Lab – where visitors will be able to see restoration in action of at least one boat at any one time."
"The project will cost in excess of £500,000 to get off the ground. The majority of this will come from the charity’s private backers, with small contributions from other partners including Visit Wales.
Mr Walters said a further £500,000 is expected to be spent on restoration projects over the next 18 months, and while 38 boats will be moved to Cardiff initially, it is hoped the new visitor attraction can be developed further in the future."
I think this looks great. Much less like a tacky theme park and more like a proper, mature, visitor attraction.
Re: A Second Major Tourist Attraction for Porth Teigr - opening this July!
These are pics of the first boat to be refit there:
as you can see work has already started but it will be completed in the new facility. The museum focuses on boats up to the advent of steam powered boats. They are previously doing restoration work in a dry dock at Roath Dock and thought it would be a great site for a full time museum.
Re: A Second Major Tourist Attraction for Porth Teigr - opening this July!
The article says building work started "in the last few weeks" and that it will be open by July. Someone better get down there with a camera quick! That is a fast turn around...
So I guess we must have missed the planning docs...
Me, you appear to be rather excited about this! Me too.
Looking at the report and the the documentation it's clear that what's intended is a temporary attraction put together at a fairly low cost. There's nothing wrong with that. That's exactly how Techniquest started.
If it succeeds something more permenant could be put together either on this site or somhwhere else - around the graving docks, maybe?
Interestingly, it appears the site is owned by the council rather than the Welsh Government /Igloo although it was included in the overall Porth Teigr masterplan.
Re: A Second Major Tourist Attraction for Porth Teigr - opening this July!
Sounds good, my only oncern is that it takes up prime land oposite mermaid quay with what could be cheap looking buildings that jar with the assembly and millennium center.
Re: A Second Major Tourist Attraction for Porth Teigr - opening this July!
Alun
I have a feeling some of it is already in place. I am sure the white tent is part of it. I may be wrong. I was hoping that would go.
I'm sure you're right about the tent - it's included in the plans. If I'm reading them correctly it's going to remain but it will be pretty much hidden from view by other structures and boats.