A LONG-running project to convert Johnshaven's lifeboat shed into a village heritage centre has taken major steps forward.
The first phase of the scheme is now underway and contractors have begun work on the building.
A mezzanine floor is to be added at the far end and to create office space, the electrics will be modernised, and work will be carried out to create disp
lay areas around the walls.
The renovation work follows a lengthy fundraising effort by the Johnshaven Heritage Society, which began in the early 1990s.
It is hoped that when complete, the heritage centre will contain artefacts from the village and large display boards outlining Johnshaven's colourful history.
Committee member Don Marr said the idea had been in the pipeline for a long time but was starting to come to fruition.
"This all started way back in the early 1990s with some artefacts that belonged to a resident of the village," he said.
"The person was in the D-Day landings and he had the letters he had written there. I read them and thought they should be preserved but unfortunately when he died they were all burned.
"We decided that something needed to be done to preserve documents like those and anything relating to the history of the village.
"We managed to accumulate quite a number of artefacts, including clothes made by local tailors going back to the 1800s, but they are all in people's houses.
"What was needed was a central place where they could be displayed and the idea of a heritage centre grew from there."
To raise money to convert the lifeboat house, the heritage society founded the Johnshaven Fish Festival, which now attracts thousands of visitors to the village each year.
Mr Marr added: "The Fish Festival was a great success for the area but it became so big were having to plough money back in to fund the next year.
"Now it is run by a separate management committee so we can concentrate on the heritage centre.
"The first phase of work is costing around £10,000 and when this is done we will move onto the second phase.
"We are hoping to keep some of the costs down by doing things like painting ourselves."
He said interest in the history of the village had increased in recent years.
"We get people coming from far and wide to ask about their ancestry in Johnshaven.
"There has been a lot of interest in the project and hopefully now people can see progress is being made they will want to get involved. We could do with a few more committee members and some younger people to help us."
