About Lagan Legacy:
Accepted as a charity by the Inland Revenue under reference number XR67097
Incorporated as a company limited by guarantee in 2003
Vat. No. 810044977
In recognition of its energy, commitment, success and professionalism Lagan Legacy was the recipient of the Special Urban Heritage Award in the All Ireland ‘Pride of Place’ competition 2005 sponsored by Co-operation Ireland
2nd from left Derek Booker (Director Lagan Legacy)
2nd from right Charlie Warmington (Research Administrator Lagan Legacy)
(Lagan Legacy was the sole N. Ireland winner in a heritage category)
Mission Statement:
To preserve and promote the maritime history and heritage of Belfast
To protect and improve the local natural environment around the River Lagan
To advance education for the benefit of the general public in Belfast and its environs in Northern Ireland by educating people about the history, architecture, arts, industry, culture and heritage of the River Lagan and its environs of Belfast docklands.
Maritime Heritage, the Arts, Education and Environment collectively are the main focus of our work.
These elements are inextricably linked in the expression of our culture, past, present and future.
To this end all of our projects are designed to combine these elements.
Background History:
Lagan Legacy was conceived as the result of an important salvage operation carried out by Lagan Boat Company (N.I.) Ltd. in 2002
This operation salvaged thousands of ships engineering plans from the shipyards of Harland & Wolff in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Harland & Wolff were giants in the shipbuilding world in the late 19th and early 20th Century. Their most famous creation was the luxury liner R.M.S. Titanic whose tragic loss on her maiden voyage in 1912 captured the imagination and sympathy of the world.
In recent years shipbuilding in Belfast has declined to the point where the mighty Harland & Wolff, once employer of thousands of workers, now consists of little more than 100 employees. As a result, the myriad buildings and docks once necessary for such a huge undertaking became redundant and over a period of two or three years (1999 - 2002) much of the shipyard was demolished. In the course of this demolition process, Lagan Boat Co. discovered that a significant archive of ships engineering plans was inadvertently being destroyed and discarded.
This sad state of affairs was probably a tragic oversight by a beleaguered Harland & Wolff who were fighting for their very survival. Lagan Boat Co. wanted to ensure the preservation of this important archive and determined to rescue it in the short term. In the long term, Lagan Boat Co. is a commercial tour company and not really structured for the business of preserving maritime history and heritage. Hence Lagan Legacy was set up as a charity to undertake this important task and a £75,000 oral/visual reminiscences project called "Oceans in Mind" was initiated.
The "Oceans in Mind" project was officially launched on 16th July 2004 at the Maysfield Boathouse in Belfast. It is supported by the Lottery Heritage Fund, Laganside Corporation and Lagan Boat Company (N.I.) Ltd.