Projects
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The Arthur Ransome Trust’s Current and Developing Projects
This page explains the Arthur Ransome Trust’s motivation and aims, and introduces our current and developing projects.
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Ransome’s Inspiration
Arthur Ransome knew what it meant to be excited by an idea. On January 16, 1936, he wrote to his publishers: “During the last four days I have seen, grabbed, clutched and pinioned a really gorgeous idea for a new book… with a first class climax inevitable and handed out on a plate… lovely new angle of technical approach and everything else I could wish… so I breathe again.” Many authors will understand the emotions and excitement that Ransome was describing at the genesis of We Didn’t Mean to go to Sea, his seventh Swallows and Amazons novel. Likewise, there will be many people who have dreamt of their schemes, as Ransome did in 1922 when his first yacht, Racundra was being designed and built.
I woke from dreams at night sitting in that paper cockpit, with a paper tiller under my arm, steering a paper ship across uncharted seas. Racundra had to be built. There was no escape.
We Didn’t Mean to go to Sea developed, at least in part, from Arthur Ransome’s decision to buy his second yacht, Nancy Blackett, and to keep her at Pin Mill on the River Orwell. It is clear from the quote above that he didn’t foresee how that decision would later inspire arguably the finest and most gripping book in the Swallows and Amazons series.
Ransome shared emotions like these with generations of children at the start of Swallows and Amazons: “Looking down… in the evening of the day in which they had come to the farmhouse… they had seen the lake like an inland sea. And on the lake they had seen the island. All four of them had been filled at once with the same idea. It was not just an island. It was the island, waiting for them. It was their island. With an island like that within sight, who could be content to live on the mainland and sleep in a bed at night?”
It is, of course, one thing to “see, grab, clutch and pinion” an idea. It is another to turn it into reality. Ransome succeeded in doing so both in writing We Didn’t Mean to go to Sea, and in building Racundra. His characters also saw their dream of living on the island come true. But Ransome also understood that worthwhile objectives take time and effort to achieve, whether in fiction or the real world. He struggled with the writing of We Didn’t Mean to go to Sea (as with many of his books), and researching it meant voyaging across the North Sea himself in Nancy Blackett. Commissioning Racundra led to many months of delays and frustration before he was finally able to take her on her first cruise. The four “Swallows”, John, Susan, Titty and Roger also found themselves facing delays as they sought their parents’ permission, and made the many plans and preparations necessary before embarking on their expedition.
The Trust’s Inspiration
In a similar way, we will be doing a lot of thinking, researching, planning and consulting, as we start to turn the Arthur Ransome Trust from an idea, into objectives, and thence into practical charitable projects. As with Ransome buying Nancy Blackett, or the Swallows sailing to the island, we cannot foresee exactly how things will evolve, or the precise route we’ll follow to get there. We do, however, have a firm long-term objective, which is to establish, develop and maintain a dedicated “Arthur Ransome Centre” in the southern Lake District.
Such a centre could serve two main roles. One is to provide a fitting and visible memorial to Arthur Ransome in his spiritual homeland. The other is to help current and future generations discover and re-discover both the man and his works.
We can begin to achieve the second role through a range of activities in the short and medium term, prior to establishing a permanent centre. We expect these projects will evolve over time: exactly what we can do, when we can start each project, and how those projects develop, depends in large part on The Trust’s financial and other support. But it also needs careful thought, as well as consultation with the public and other interested parties. At this stage we envisage projects including temporary and mobile exhibitions about Arthur Ransome’s life and works.
If you have any ideas or thoughts about how the Trust’s projects could develop, please do not hesitate to get in touch, using our contact details.
The links below lead to more information about our emerging ideas. These will be added to and expanded as we develop each project.
