BUILDERS were busy 20 years ago on a project worth £840,000 to double the size of Coniston’s John Ruskin Museum.

The Mail, on Tuesday, March 31, in 1998, noted that the Yewdale Road museum had opened in 1901, a year after the death of the artist, critic, author, environmentalist and social visionary, John Ruskin, who had spent his later years at Brantwood, overlooking Coniston Water.

Museum director Vicky Slowe said: “Part of our task is to put Ruskin the man and Ruskin’s ideas across sympathetically, as well as showing that they are still relevant.”

The museum would also look at Coniston’s geology and how it had been exploited for slate and copper.

Pupils from John Ruskin School filled a time capsule to go behind the foundation stone.

The article noted: “The project was using local materials, such as stone and slate, as well as using copper for gutters and downspouts.”