Sea Cadets save Connah’s Quay heritage centre from closure

A heritage centre dedicated to the last surviving British-built three-masted wooden schooner has been saved – by the Sea Cadets who used to call it home.

The Kathleen and May Heritage Centre is dedicated to the ship, built in Connah’s Quay by Ferguson and Baird in 1900.

But recently the heritage centre and cafe on Dock Road in Connah’s Quay has been closed down and was set to be boarded up.

Now an agreement has been reached for Connah’s Quay Sea Cadets to take over the running of the centre after they raised £36,000 in grant funding with help from Connah’s Quay Town Council and Flintshire County Council.

It represents a return home for the cadets of TS Tuscan, who moved from the site they had occupied for 40 years to St Mark’s Church Hall in 2011. That originally paved the way for the creation of the heritage centre.

“I’d like to thank the town council and former Town Councillor Bill Crease for supporting the sea cadets to get the funding to do this,” said vice chairman of Connah’s Quay Town Council Cllr Debbie Owen, a champion for the cadets.

“We would not have been able to raise the £36,000 needed if the council had not been on board. We’re happy to say the sea cadets have taken over and will operate a ‘Friends of Kathleen and May’ group for people to join.

“I’m just pleased it wasn’t boarded up because that was the plan. It was going to be boarded up by Flintshire County Council and would become an eyesore.”

Flintshire County Council was praised however for helping to arrange grants to support the transfer to the sea cadets.

The last known location of the Kathleen and May itself – now listed as part of the National Historic Fleet – was at Gloucester Docks, where it was being repaired by volunteers.

It was made famous first after inspiring the Duke of Edinburgh to set up the Maritime Trust to save rare ships and then after appearing in the hit 70s TV series The Onedin Line.

By Alec Doyle – Local Democracy Reporter