Peter Pan birthplace to become Scottish Centre for Children's Stories after winning £1.8 million

This article originally appeared on Culture24.

First Scottish Centre for Children’s Literature and Storytelling to be created at house where Peter Pan was imagined

Joanna Lumley, the patron of the Georgian townhouse in Dumfries where JM Barrie dreamed up Peter Pan and his Neverland adventures, says the house and gardens will enjoy a “sensational” future after winning a £1.8 million Lottery grant.

The eternally-cherubic boy and his fairy accomplice, Tinkerbell, were imagined by Barrie during a childhood in the gardens of Moat Brae House, which the author called an “enchanted land” where the “genesis of that nefarious work” took place.

Scotland’s first Centre for Children’s Literature and Storytelling will be created at the house under the bid-winning plans of the trust responsible for its care.

“It means that we can now move swiftly towards our goals of restoring the house and garden in readiness for its role in the literary life of children in Scotland,” said Lumley, speaking in the month of the 110th anniversary of the first Peter Pan production.

“Our aims are to nurture the memories of past writers and to encourage the emergence of new young talent – to respect our extraordinary literary inheritance and to enable children's imaginations to fly, like Peter Pan.”

One of Scotland’s first purpose-built cinemas, Campbeltown Picture House, has also been awarded £1.1 million following a century of a continuous entertainment.

Organisers hope to turn the building into a sustainable, community-based business with a second auditorium and a new café bar during a three-year project.

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Source: http://www.culture24.org.uk//history-and-heritage/literature-and-music/art509925-peter-pan-birthplace-to-become-scottish-centre-for-childrens-stories-after-winning-1.8-million