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Displaying items by tag: Derry City

#MaritimeMuseum -  A spokesperson for Derry City and Strabane District Council has confirmed to Afloat that plans for creation of a Maritime Museum and Archive Centre is currently at the development stage.

The project is being taken forward by Derry City and Strabane District Council in conjunction with Heritage Lottery Fund, Tourism NI and the Office of the First and Deputy First Ministers.

Once the new Maritime Museum and Archive Centre is up and running it will celebrate the city, region and Lough Foyle’s unique maritime importance over the centuries with details and exhibitions on the Foyle’s role as a vital naval base during and after the Second World War to be a pivotal feature.

Current proposals situate the museum and archive centre at the recently transformed Ebrington Square in the Waterside area of the city, in Buildings no 45, 46 and 49. The Ebrington Site was launched on 14th February 2012, features a 19th century star fort and is connected to the historic walled city by the iconic Peace Bridge.

As the city has a rich maritime heritage, there is a wealth of resources available for the planned exhibitions with an extensive archive to inspire and explore those visiting the centre. Plans for the centre include the installation of exhibition galleries, archival reading rooms, dedicated learning spaces as well as a café, shop and other visitor facilities.

Derry City and Strabane District Council is unique in Northern Ireland, in that it holds the largest and most significant public archive outside of the Public Record Office NI. Council’s Archive and Genealogy Service holds a combined resource of over 400 years of archives alongside over one million family history records.

A Reserved Matters application for the Maritime Museum was submitted to the Department of Infrastructure Ref: LA11/2016/0937/RM in November 2016. The Council is currently processing the Listed Building Consent application for the development Ref LA11/2016/1035/LBC, submitted in December 2016.

Both the applications are currently under consideration.

Published in Coastal Notes

Coastal Notes Coastal Notes covers a broad spectrum of stories, events and developments in which some can be quirky and local in nature, while other stories are of national importance and are on-going, but whatever they are about, they need to be told.

Stories can be diverse and they can be influential, albeit some are more subtle than others in nature, while other events can be immediately felt. No more so felt, is firstly to those living along the coastal rim and rural isolated communities. Here the impact poses is increased to those directly linked with the sea, where daily lives are made from earning an income ashore and within coastal waters.

The topics in Coastal Notes can also be about the rare finding of sea-life creatures, a historic shipwreck lost to the passage of time and which has yet many a secret to tell. A trawler's net caught hauling more than fish but cannon balls dating to the Napoleonic era.

Also focusing the attention of Coastal Notes, are the maritime museums which are of national importance to maintaining access and knowledge of historical exhibits for future generations.

Equally to keep an eye on the present day, with activities of existing and planned projects in the pipeline from the wind and wave renewables sector and those of the energy exploration industry.

In addition Coastal Notes has many more angles to cover, be it the weekend boat leisure user taking a sedate cruise off a long straight beach on the coast beach and making a friend with a feathered companion along the way.

In complete contrast is to those who harvest the sea, using small boats based in harbours where infrastructure and safety poses an issue, before they set off to ply their trade at the foot of our highest sea cliffs along the rugged wild western seaboard.

It's all there, as Coastal Notes tells the stories that are arguably as varied to the environment from which they came from and indeed which shape people's interaction with the surrounding environment that is the natural world and our relationship with the sea.