uk uncovered Britain’s maritime heritage

28 tlm ! the travel & leisure magazine www.tlm-magazine.co.uk Winter 2010/11

As an island with a long seafaring tradition,both trading and as a colonial power,Britain is rich in maritime history and heritage. All around our coastline, there arereminders of the country’s nautical legacyand our relationship with the sea.

They endure in the form of maritime museums,once-thriving docks and ports now preserved as heritageareas, mighty naval dockyards surplus to requirementsin the modern world and historic boats and ships whichhave survived the ravages of time, neglect, war and thescrapyard.

With the sea being our only link with other countriesuntil we could take to the skies, it is unsurprising that itis etched so deeply in our psyche and in our souls. Andless surprising still that the nation’s favourite hero, ViceAdmiral Lord Horatio Nelson, is glorified in London’sbest-known monument in the centre of Trafalgar Square– itself named after his most famous naval victory,against the French, in 1805.

Fittingly, his flagship, HMS Victory, is today the cen-trepiece of one of Britain’s top visitor attractions:

Portsmouth Historic Dockyard. So it also makes sense for us to start our tour of the

country’s maritime heritage at the historic home of theRoyal Navy, where almost two-thirds of its surface shipsare still based today.

portsmouthNowhere can you feel Britain’s close association withthe sea more than at the Portsmouth Historic Dockyard.It was in June 1911 that the Dockyard Museum wasopened by King George V, a treasure house of navalobjects displayed in the space now occupied by theVictory Restoration Workshop.

While some of the original objects were sent to thenew National Maritime Museum in Greenwich upon itsopening in 1937, many figureheads and other key itemsremained and now form part of the National Museum ofthe Royal Navy, located opposite HMS Victory in theVictory Gallery.

Launched in 1765 at Chatham, HMS Victory is theRoyal Navy’s most celebrated warship and the world’soldest commissioned ship. Visitors can explore the ship

Sails of theCenturies

Britain is chock-a-block with maritime heritage thanks to its long seafaring history, sotlm weighs anchor to check out what to see

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and see the Great Cabin, where the Battle of Trafalgarwas planned, as well as the spot where Nelson died.

This year marks another majormilestone at the dockyard – the150th anniversary of HMS Warrior,the world’s first iron-hulled, armoured warship,which was powered by steam and sail. It is nowcalled HMS Warrior 1860, marking its launchon December 29, 1860, although it was commis-sioned in August, 1861. Restored and returned toits home port 23 years ago, the ship vividly por-trays the life of a Victorian sailor.

Yet another significant anniversary is being celebrat-ed by Tudor warship the Mary Rose, with 2011 marking500 years since it was commissioned by King HenryVIII. Raised from the seabed in 1982 in front of a global TV audience of 60 million, having sunk in battlewith the French in 1545 in view of the king, the shiphas been undergoing conservation ever since.

A new £35 million museum is currently under con-struction to house the ship, so the vessel will not be onview until it opens in mid-2012. However, you can still

tall ships races The annual Tall Ships Races provide oneof the most stirring sights, with dozensof sailing ships convening on portsaround Europe for races and events.After Hartlepool was host port in 2010,the 2011 event will see the tall shipsfleet race between Waterford in Ireland,Greenock in Scotland, Lerwick in theShetlands, Stavanger in Norway andHalmstad in Sweden between June 30and August 8.

Over four days, from July 21-24,crews, locals and visitors will able tosample Shetland culture and hospitalityin the intimate setting of Lerwickharbour before the second leg of therace gets under way to Stavanger.

Prior to that, the Cruise in Companyevent will involve the ships sailing on anon-competitive, nine-day journey fromGreenock to Lerwick, calling in at 12

ports of call in Scotland, the Orkneysand Shetlands. Apart from the spectacle,it provides young volunteers the chanceto join the vessels as crew. The deadlinefor this year has already passed.

The Tall Ships Races are organised bySail Training International. Moreinformation:www.sailtraininginternational.orgwww.tallshipsraceslerwick.com

see the amazing artefacts recovered intact from thewreck in the existing museum.

Visit the sail-shaped Spinnaker Tower for the bestviews over the adjacent historic dockyard.

Nearby Gosport is home to the Royal NavySubmarine Museum, where exhibits include HMSAlliance, commissioned in 1947, and the Royal Navy’sfirst submarine, Holland 1, which first sailed in 1901.Lost while being towed to the breakers’ yard in 1913,the wreck of Holland 1 was discovered and salvaged 69years later. It is now housed in a special dehumidifiedgallery following an extensive restoration project com-pleted in its centenary year.

greenwichThe importance of Maritime Greenwich is underlinedby its status as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, grantedin 1997. Besides its royal associations with Tudor andStuart sovereigns as well as its pivotal position in theworld of science, Greenwich has played a key role inBritain’s sea power for over 400 years.

Over the centuries, it saw the establishment of theRoyal Hospital for Seamen and associated school (from1696-1869), the Royal Naval College (1872-1998), theDreadnought Seamen’s Hospital (from 1870 until the1980s) and the National Maritime Museum.

Around £200 million worth of investment and £70million in grants from the Heritage Lottery Fund haveunderpinned regeneration since 1997, which has includ-ed the opening up of the Royal Naval College to thepublic.

The world’s largest maritime museum with a col-lection totalling almost 2.5 million items, theNational Maritime Museum includes a narrativeand interactive Nelson display which depicts theBattle of Trafalgar, his death, funeral and

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commemoration in London. Nelson’s Trafalgar coat,with the hole made by the fatal French musket ball, iscurrently undergoing essential conservation but will goback on display in the summer.

Among popular things you can see at the museumcurrently are the state barge of Prince Frederick, Princeof Wales and son of King George II; The Bridge simula-tor, in which visitors can try their hand at captaining aship; and the All Hands interactive gallery for childrenof all ages.

A major new wing, the Sammy Ofer Wing, opens insummer 2011 to create a new south entrance, interactivegalleries and substantial new space for special exhibi-tions.

Following its disastrous fire in 2007, venerable teaclipper Cutty Sark is being restored to its former glorywith a glazed viewing gallery underneath thanks to a£46 million funding package, and is due to open in timefor the 2012 Olympics.

london docklands and cityJust across the river, London’s Docklands haveregenerated into a financial and business hub. Thecapital’s history as a port from the time of theRomans is told through collections and galleries atthe Museum of London Docklands, in a former

sugar warehouse on West India Quay. Next to Tower Bridge, the 160-year-old warehouse

buildings of St Katharine Docks are now home to apart-ments, restaurants and shops, with the docks themselvesa marina where historic sailing barges sit alongside lux-ury yachts.

And just upriver, HMS Belfast is the only survivinglight cruiser to have seen active service during WorldWar II. Part of the Imperial War Museum, it was savedfrom destruction in 1971 after serving Britain for 32years and is staffed by volunteers, many of them veterancrew members.

Tucked in a wharf off Southwark’s Clink Street is areplica of one of Britain’s most famous ships, theGolden Hinde. A full-size reconstruction of the Tudorgalleon in which Sir Francis Drake circumnavigated theglobe from 1577-1580, it offers visitors a living historyexperience on self-guided tours.

Downriver, Tilbury is the temporary home for theworld’s oldest restored steamship, the 120-year-old SSRobin, following two year’s restoration at GreatYarmouth. It will become a museum and learning centrein London.

chathamThe Historic Dockyard Chatham is the world’s mostcomplete example of a historic dockyard from the ageof sail and played a vital role for the Royal Navy forover four centuries.

Its collection of three historic warships comprises thethree-masted Victorian naval sloop HMS Gannet, builtat nearby Sheerness in 1878, as well as the Royal Navy’slast operation World War II destroyer, HMS Cavalier,and HM Submarine Ocelot, the last warship built for theRoyal Navy at Chatham and launched in 1962. Visitorscan tour all three vessels.

Other attractions in the dockyard include a D-Daylocomotive, midget submarine and Kitchener’s RailwayCarriage in 3 Slip – Europe’s largest wide-span timberstructure when built in 1838 – as well as 17 historicRNLI lifeboats, the Victorian Ropery with its quarter-mile Rope Walk, a reconstruction of a wooden warshipsdockyard and the Royal Dockyard Museum.

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uk uncovered ! maritime britain

sail awayYou can experience several historic ships andboats at sea.

One of the best-known preserved shipswhich runs passenger cruises is the world’slast sea-going paddle steamer, Waverley.Based in Glasgow, the vessel and classiccruise ship, Balmoral, spend part of each yeartouring Britain’s coast to operate trips fromvarious ports, piers and harbours.

Another paddleboat, the Kingswear Castle,runs excursions on the Medway and Thames.

Sail enthusiasts can also indulge theirpassion. Topsail charters offers East Coast

sailing trips aboard Thames barges fromIpswich, Maldon, Brightlingsea, Tilbury andLondon.

And if you fancy climbing rigging, you can

volunteer to crew on the Jubilee SailingTrust’s tall ships, Lord Nelson and Tenacious,specially designed to allow able-bodied anddisabled people to sail together as equals.

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! Waverley underTower Bridge

! SpinnakerTower,Portsmouth

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tlm ! the travel & leisure magazine www.tlm-magazine.co.uk Winter 2010/1132

Shetland’s maritime story starts here ...www.shetlandmuseumandarchives.org.uk

SAILINGBARGECRUISESRelaxing Daysand WeekendsAway exploringEssex & SuffolkRivers on historicsailing barges

• PRIVATEHIRE FOR BIRTHDAYS&ANNIVERSARIES• PUBLIC DAYTRIPS

•WEEKENDS FORGROUPSAND INDIVIDUALS

www.topsailcharters.co.uk

The Dock Museum is a unique building in a stunning coastal setting built within a Victorian dry dock. incorporating threefloors, the original Victorian graving dock provides an impressive backdrop to the galleries.

The museum tells the story of Barrow through displays, ship models, graphics and film show.

Our facilities include: Cafe, themed playground, events and exhibitions programme, waterfront site, fully accessible andwalkways linked to the Cumbria Coastal Way.

Suitable for all the family, the Dock Museum makes an ideal day out.

The Dock Museum, North Road, Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria LA14 2PWTel 01229 876400 Email: dockmuseum@barrowbc.gov.uk

www.dockmuseum.org.uk

Visit the award winning Dock Museum fora fabulous day out - and it’s FREE to all

Winter 2010/11 tlm ! the travel & leisure magazine www.tlm-magazine.co.uk 33

uk uncovered ! maritime britain

east of englandHartlepool was a host port for the Tall Ships Races in2010, when nearly 60 historic vessels took part.Hartlepool Maritime Experience is a recreation of an18th century seaport, bringing to life the times ofNelson, Napoleon and the Battle of Trafalgar. Itincludes a maritime museum, Britain’s oldest warshipafloat, the 1817-vintage HMS Trincomalee, and a“mari-time machine” to experience life aboard a 19thcentury British naval frigate.

Hull Maritime Museum features ship models, a full-size whale skeleton and displays of the whalers’ craft ofscrimshaw, or whalebone carving.

Lowestoft Maritime Museum’s new extension wasopened in May 2010 by the Princess Royal. Exhibitsinclude model ships and marine art.

In Essex, see traditional Thames barges moored bythe sea wall at Maldon and the preserved cockle fishingvillage of Old Leigh, where the Pilgrims’ Mayflowerpicked up provisions and passengers.

south and south west englandSouthampton has a rich and colourful history whichcontinues today, as home to the transatlantic Queens. Itwas also the departure port for the ill-fated Titanic. Thechronicle of its crew forms an exhibition atSouthampton Maritime Museum.

Currently located in the 600-year-old Wool Housewarehouse, it will be renamed Sea City when it movesto a new facility in a former magistrates’ court in April2012, with a gallery devoted to the Titanic.

Buckler’s Hard is a preserved 18th century village onthe banks of the Beaulieu River in the New ForestNational Park where three Battle of Trafalgar warshipswere built. Its maritime museum gives an insight intothe history of the village, the ships built there, theNelson connection and its role in the D-Day landings.

The National Maritime Museum Cornwall, inFalmouth, was formed as a partnership between theNational Maritime Museum in Greenwich and the for-mer Cornwall Maritime Museum and combines theirextensive collections. Displays include traditional craftand sailing boats from the first Mirror dinghy toOlympic medal-winners.

At Bristol, you can relive the age of Victorian geniusaboard Brunel’s SS Great Britain. Abandoned in 1937 inthe Falklands and rescued 40 years ago, it was theworld’s largest ship and a technological marvel whenlaunched in Bristol in 1843 with its iron hull, screw pro-peller and steam engine. This popular, award-winningattraction now sits on a glass “sea” in a dry dock.

The Pilgrim Fathers sailed in the Mayflower toAmerica in 1620 from Plymouth. The City Museumdetails that and the history of naval seaport Devonportas well as its association with Antarctic explorationthrough local boy Captain Robert Scott.

Gloucester Docks is linked to the sea by the 16-mileSharpness Canal. Tall ships still visit from time to timeand it is home to a lightship now converted into a float-ing holistic therapy centre. Bideford in Devon is hometo 1900 three-masted schooner Kathleen and May.

The darker side of Britain’s seas is told in the form ofartefacts from wrecked ships at the Isle of WightShipwreck Centre and Maritime Museum and the Islesof Scilly Museum.

wales and north west england

A Grade II listed former dockside warehouse inSwansea houses the National Waterfront Museum,Wales’s newest national museum, which explores thecountry’s industrial and maritime heritage.

Nine million people emigrated through the great portof Liverpool. Their story is brought to life in a gallery atthe Merseyside Maritime Museum in the preservedAlbert Dock, which also includes the national museumof HM Revenue and Customs covering smuggling andtaxes, the Titanic, Lusitania and Empress of Irelandgallery and displays of boats and ships, paintings, shipmodels and items from wrecks.

The history of shipbuilding centre Barrow-in-Furnessis detailed in the Dock Museum, which includes shipmodels, paintings and exhibitions.

northern irelandBelfast’s Harland and Wolff shipyard was whereTitanic was built and its legacy lives on in the city.Excitement is building in the run up to the centenaryof its sinking on April 15, 1912. An iconic Titanic vis-itor attraction is planned to open in Belfast’s £7 billion

local heroesTwo of Britain’s foremost naval heroes, Captain James Cook and Horatio Nelson,are celebrated in museums where they lived.

Whitby’s Captain Cook Memorial Museum (www.cookmuseumwhitby.co.uk),set in the house on Whitby harbour where the 18th century explorer andnavigator lodged as a young apprentice, recounts his life and explorations, as doesthe Captain Cook Birthplace Museum (www.captcook-ne.co.uk), inMiddlesbrough.

Great Yarmouth’s Nelson Museum (www.visitnorfolk.co.uk) illustrates theearly life in Norfolk and naval career of Lord Nelson. You can also visit places hefrequented in the county, see where he learnt to sail at Brancaster Staithe and eventry Nelson’s Blood – a rum-based brew unique to the Lord Nelson pub inBurnham Thorpe.

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maritime uk facts

Titanic Quarter waterfront development in 2012.A special Titanic exhibition from the collections of

National Museums Northern Ireland opens on May 31 –100 years to the day when the ship was launched – at theUlster Folk & Transport Museum.

The Titanic Made in Belfast Festival takes place eachApril. Tours of Titanic’s Dock and Pump-House, oncethe heart of Harland & Wolff during the construction ofTitanic and its White Star sister ships Britannic andOlympic, take place throughout the year and include afootprint of the doomed ship to show its scale. Titanic’slittle sister, the tender SS Nomadic, has returned to theshipyard and awaits restoration.

scotlandThe Scottish Maritime Museum occupies three sites, atIrvine, Dumbarton and Braehead – although Braehead’sClydebuilt Museum was due to close by the end of2010. The Irvine harbour location includes historicships such as the Clyde Puffer MV Spartan as well asship models and a preserved shipyard worker’s tene-ment flat.

The Tall Ship at Glasgow Harbour attraction, centredon the three-masted Glenlee which has just reopenedafter renovation, is moving to a new berth alongside theRiverside Museum this year. Meanwhile, the touringTitanic: Honour and Glory exhibition featuring thelargest private collection of Titanic artefacts in Scotlandis open at the harbour until February 27.

Edinburgh’s port of Leith is home to the formerRoyal Yacht Britannia. Tour the bridge and the ship’sfive decks, including the gleaming engine room, staterooms where world leaders were entertained and theQueen’s bedroom. The 1930s racing yacht, Bloodhound,which was once owned by the Queen and Prince Philip,is moored alongside.

Visit Discovery Point, Dundee, to see Antarcticexplorers Scott and Shackleton’s ship, RRS Discovery.Dundee is also home to the frigate, Unicorn.

Inverary Maritime Experience is housed in the 1911-built iron-hulled schooner, Arctic Penguin, moored atInverary Pier. It also includes the Vital Spark, one of thelast Clyde Puffers to be built.

World of Boats is a collection of almost 400 boatsand over 300 models from across the world at the EastCoast fishing port of Eyemouth. At its core is the formerExeter Maritime Museum collection of ethnic, Europeancoastal and other craft of historic significance.

Aberdeen Maritime Museum, in the city’s historicShiprow, highlights shipbuilding, sailing ships, whaling,fishing and the North Sea oil industry.

docks and ports Portsmouth Historic Dockyard: www.historicdockyard.co.ukMary Rose Museum: www.maryrose.orgHMS Victory: www.hms-victory.comThe Historic Dockyard Chatham: www.thedockyard.co.ukSt Katharine Docks, London: www.skdocks.co.ukHartlepool’s Maritime Experience:www.hartlepoolsmaritimeexperience.comGloucester Docks:www.gloucesterdocks.me.uk

museumsGreenwich Maritime Museum: www.nmm.ac.ukTitanic’s Dock and Pump-House:www.titanicsdock.comTitanic in Belfast: www.titanicinbelfast.comMerseyside Maritime Museum:www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/maritimeSouthampton Maritime Museum: www.southampton.gov.ukScottish Maritime Museum: www.scottishmaritimemuseum.orgInveraray Maritime Museum: www.inveraraypier.comBuckler's Hard: www.bucklershard.co.ukWorld of Boats: www.worldofboats.orgNational Maritime Museum Cornwall: www.nmmc.co.ukHull Maritime Museum: www.hullcc.gov.uk/museums/maritimeLowestoft Maritime Museum:www.lowestoftmaritimemuseum.org.ukAberdeen Maritime Museum: www.aberdeencity.gov.ukNational Waterfront Museum (Swansea):www.museumwales.ac.uk/en/swanseaIsle of Wight Shipwreck Centre & Maritime Museum:www.iowight.com/shipwrecksThe Dock Museum, Barrow-in-Furness: www.dockmuseum.org.ukJersey Maritime Museum: www.jerseyheritage.orgPlymouth Museum: www.plymouth.gov.uk/museumpcmag.htmSubmarine Museum: www.submarine-museum.co.ukMuseum of London Docklands:www.museumindocklands.org.uk

shipsCutty Sark: www.cuttysark.org.ukSS Robin: www.ssrobin.comSS Great Britain: www.ssgreatbritain.orgThe Tall Ship at Glasgow Harbour:www.glenlee.co.ukHMS Trincomalee: www.hms-trincomalee.co.ukKingswear Caslte: www.kingswearcastle.co.ukRoyal Yacht Britannia: www.royalyachtbritannia.co.ukHMS Belfast: http://hmsbelfast.iwm.org.ukGolden Hinde: www.goldenhinde.comDiscovery Point: www.rrsdiscovery.comFrigate Unicorn: www.frigateunicorn.orgNational Historic Ships: www.nationalhistoricships.org.uk

sail awayWaverley Excursions: www.waverleyexcursions.co.ukTopsail Charters (Thames barge sailing): www.top-sail.co.ukJubilee Sailing Trust: www.jst.org.uk

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