Interviews of Allen Paterson aged 81

Interview with Allen Paterson about his involvement with the Moat Brae Trust and the plans to develop Moat Brae as a centre for children's literature. Allen came from a background in gardening and it was this experience that initially brought him to Moat Brae. As a student, he had completed his training at Cambridge University and Kew Gardens before going on to a career in teaching botanics at college and running botanic gardens - including the Royal Botanic Garden in Ontario. He recalled that it was when he attended a protest meeting about the proposed demolition of Moat Brae that Luke Maloney and Roger Windsor had asked him to join them in their fight to save the building. Allen became a trustee and was an enthusiastic supporter of both the building and the gardens.

Allen also talks about the poor state of repair of the building in the early days of the project and recalls that Luke Maloney did a lot of work to clear the debris. Allen regretted that Luke Maloney and Roger Windsor had subsequently withdrawn from the project. He also talked about the current team at Moat Brae, which includes Cathy Agnew (fundraiser) who has been instrumental in securing funding from a variety of sources and patron Joanna Lumley.

He describes the state of the gardens at that time and notes that a survey allowed them to ascertain that the garden was not historically significant and this has allowed the Trust to have more freedom in choosing what to do with the land. Peter McGowan is the landscape gardener for this project and the proposed plans include maintaining the open view to the Galloway hills and the 3 great trees (2 cedars, 1 tulip tree) whilst also building a garden which includes scenes from the book, Peter Pan.

Other points of discussion include: the support local organisations; the completion of phase 1 and the initiation of phase 2 of the redevelopment plan and the importance of securing future Heritage Lottery funding. Towards the end of the interview, Allen talks about how important local people have been to the success of the Moat Brae project and names Ian Wilson, Barbara Kelly (Chair), Caroline Buck (volunteers) and Mrs Burns (education) amongst those.