Eskdale Mill &
Heritage Trust
Newsletter
Spring 2018
Heritage
Lottery Fund update
The
trustees have been working on plans for a Heritage Lottery funded
restoration scheme since 2014. Having completed our development
phase in February 2017, we hoped that HLF would decide on our
delivery stage application – the big money – in June, but they
deferred it for six months, requiring us to improve the documentation
of our plans. At the end of October we submitted our revised
business plan, which grew in length to a hefty 90 pages and now
gives a complete picture of the project background, what we intend to
achieve, and how we will get there.
With
delight, relief and excitement, we learned in December that HLF have
awarded us £842,000. This will be matched by £75,000 from Copeland
Community Fund; £36,000 from the E U’s Rural Development
Programme; £15,000 from the Pilgrim Trust; and £5,000 from the
Cumbria Community Foundation. We are still £29,200 short of our
match-funding target, and efforts to find that balance are
continuing. If the notional contribution of volunteers’ time,
which HLF bring into their calculation, is included, our project
value is over £1,000,000.
Capital costs, inclusive of professional fees and VAT, will account
for just under £700,000. Over £170,000 will be spent on activities
– including the manager’s salary for two years, staff and
volunteer training costs, explanatory materials and the cost of
events. The remainder will cover publicity and promotion,
contingency and inflation.
At
the time of writing, our architect, quantity surveyor and consultant
millwright are hard at work on the construction tenders. The project
timetable shows the contractor starting on site by the time of the
AGM at the end of April 2018. Building work is scheduled to be
completed by spring next year. A new manager will then move into the
refurbished cottage and the aim is to reopen the mill to the public
in June 2019. HLF will continue to sponsor operations until spring
2021, but after that we will be on our own.
Whilst
changing very little in external appearance, the buildings will be
made structurally sound, and the machinery restored to full working
order. The refurbished cottage with improved facilities will be
occupied by a new, employed manager, supported by volunteers in a
number of roles. The mill’s long story will be better understood
and explained, giving visitors a more enjoyable experience. Working
with others, especially the Ravenglass & Eskdale Railway, the
mill will be promoted much more effectively. Greater visitor numbers
will enable the trustees to achieve their target of financial
sustainability, assisted by a steady income from the sale of
electricity, generated by the new, freestanding water wheel.
The
mill will be closed to the public throughout 2018, during the
construction phase, but there will be opportunities for our
hardworking volunteers to maintain their involvement, in the garden
and field, the care and continued cataloguing of artefacts, the local
history research project, and in training for the vital roles they
will perform after reopening. By then, the mill will be in better
condition, better presented and more effectively marketed than ever
before. By employing a resident manager, rather than relying on a
self-employed tenant as previously, the Trust will be directly
responsible for the mill’s operation as a visitor attraction.
After
the construction phase, the activities programme will continue until
2021. Until then, we will continue to be subject to HLF monitoring
and accountability for expenditure. The project will be formally
evaluated. Visitor numbers and experience are critical to the
Trust’s financial sustainability, along with income from the
hydro-electric scheme, and will be carefully tracked.
Paul
Pharaoh
Chair
of trustees.
