Museum’s new director helps keep up appearances
OBAN War and Peace Museum has appointed a former Savile Row master tailor to look after the many uniforms it puts on parades for the public.
Paul Salt, who learned his top tailoring skills in the army before working at a London tailor’s in luxury suit capital Savile Row, is now one of the board of directors at the museum on the Corran Esplanade.
Mr Salt, who lives in Connel and has 30 years of tailoring experience, has been tasked with caring for all the museum’s uniforms as part of his official duties.
‘It’s a huge honour to be a director and to be responsible for looking after all the uniforms. It’s a fascinating place – there’s so much history to be told,’ he said.
Included in the uniforms under his care is a jacket which once belonged to Second World War Lieutenant Ivan Bagerov of the Bulgarian Royal Navy, otherwise know as Lieutenant David James from Toronsay Castle in Mull. The cunning lieutenant had cleverly disguised the jacket with gold braiding to make it look the real thing to help him make a bold escape from a Nazi prisoner-of-war camp to safety in France, speaking Gaelic all the way.
Mr Salt and his fellow directors are hoping a record number of visitors will pass through the museum’s doors this year to discover the town’s history, which also includes tales of wartime flying boats.
Numbers for 2017 stood at 30,266 and curator and chairman of the board Bill Leech is optimistic that 2018 could bring in even more.
Every inch of the museum in the old Oban Times building is packed with artefacts and photographs.
‘After the snow, which pretty much stopped people from getting to Oban, numbers are picking up nicely and we’re hoping for bigger numbers this year. We’re always pleased to have tourists come to see us, but we’d be happy to see more locals call in too,’ said Mr Leech. About 30,000 visitors spread across nine months of the year is the usual count.
A loyal army of volunteers, called watchkeepers, run the museum which is now open daily, including Sundays, and has its own website at obanmuseum.org.uk. Admission is free but donations are welcome for the upkeep. The museum is part of Museums Galleries Scotland.
This May, Museums Galleries Scotland has lined up more than 100 events across Scotland as part of a Festival of Museums.
This year’s programme, from May 18-20, will have something for everyone, from baby sensory events for tiny tots to dementia-friendly reminiscence sessions where visitors can relive their personal histories.
Now in its 12th year, the Festival of Museums is welcoming a number of new venues to its line-up, including Edinburgh’s Jupiter Artland sculpture park, Skelmorlie Secret Bunker and St Ronan’s Wells, a historic spa overlooking Leithen Valley.
Visit festivalofmuseums.com.