13 Days To Go On Friday 13th...

Hello again.

Well things are certainly picking up pace – only 13 days to go now until the Victorian Festival of Christmas kicks off here at Portsmouth Historic Dockyard.

Let’s hope the horrible weather we’re having at the moment means it’s going to rain itself out ready for our snowy streets.

This week I’ve been finalising important behind the scenes stuff, for example Colas have been kind enough to show their support for the event by providing a drainage support unit and engineer to help us wash the snow away after the event – so thank you very kindly indeed for their expertise.

My colleagues Amy and Holly are also putting in a huge effort to ensure all our lovely traders and caterers know what stand they’ve booked, when they can come and set up, what security passes they need and generally answering any last minute questions.

As one of the largest Christmas Markets on the south coast this is no quick task as they’re talking to over 150 traders from right across the country, including our Continental Market from Europe. And then there are the Caterers as well, but its well worth it as this year we’ve got some cracking shopping choices on site, here’s a sneaky preview to wet your appetite…

Visit Hideout Leather Goods for sheepskin and leather accessories to keep your family warm and snuggly this winter, make Christmas dinner extra special with a gorgeous new Christmas table cloth and table decorations from The Table Cloth Company…

Stock up on Christmas Cards and Gift wrap from Phoenix Trading, pick out a unique piece of hand made jewellery for Mum from Rosemary’s Dressing Table….

Running out of steam with all this shopping? Why not grab a quick mulled wine and a mince from Solutions Gluevine Cabin. Or if your tummy’s starting to rumble treat yourself to a Traditional Cornish Pasty (or both -hehehe :o)…

Come on, more to see… Pick up a boozy Christmas hamper for Granddad from Hebridean Liqueurs, and commission an illustration of the Grandkids for Grandma at Kate Chidley’s stall….

If Dad’s been a very good boy this year why not go all out and treat him to an Atlas Helicopter ride over Portsmouth..!

And not forgetting those pesky kids why not spoil them with a traditional hand carved Rocking Horse that can be passed down for years to come!

So you read about the entrainment in last week’s blog, now you’ve got a taste of the shopping, I wonder what I’ll tantalize you with next week…

You’ll have to wait and see :o)

Terri. x

Countdown to Christmas festival begins...

Hiya everyone, I’m sure you are starting to get to know me by now from my Celebration of Steam and Royal Navy Past & Present event blogs. I hope you are all well :o)

I’m fine and dandy, very busy and excited about our next event – the Victorian Festival of Christmas, which is celebrating its 10th Anniversary this year.

I have worked the event for the last 2 years and I still find it enchanting, even being involved in the build up and witnessing it all come together over the week before, I still love to stand in the Victorian Street watching families all cosy in their hats and scarves playing in the snow – it really does make the all year round hard work to pull this event together worthwhile.

This year you can pop along to the Festival and see the old favourites including all our glorious on site attractions, a cast of 100’s of Victorian characters and Santa’s Grotto on board HMS Warrior 1860.

Also Fagin’s Tavern with Oakleaf Brewery’s real ale and the Continental Market for a taste of Europe either side of HMS Victory, the fantastic Christmas market (which I intend to do some sly Christmas shopping at while marshalling the event) and of course the snow street which also includes the traditional Carousel, real life nativity scene and I’m sure Queen Victoria and Mr Brown will be dropping in!

Some additions for this year will be the chance for your family to get dressed up in Victorian costumes and stand in a mock Victorian living room in Action Stations and have your picture taken, sleeping beauty style spinners in the Royal Naval Museum talking about their magical craft.

Not to mention a collection of 100’s of Father Christmases of all different shapes and sizes from all different times on board HMS Warrior 1860 and Theatre Victoriana in Action Stations where a short show of Peter Pan, Oliver Twist and a comedy called ‘The Adventurous Victorians’ will be performed!

So as you can see I have been very busy – which is ideal to keep me out of mischief :o)

A company that has very much helped me along the way is Hewdens – they have been kind enough to give us a cherry picker and forklift for the event build up and break down which is so important for rigging all the lovely lighting, Christmas trees and site flags. So a personal thank you to them.

No doubt I’ll have loads more to update you on next week.

Take care until then.
Terri

http://www.christmasfestival.co.uk/

The Mary Rose – Dances and Doctors for fundraising appeal!

Photo: Jack Green, Tudor Doctor of Physic at the Mary Rose Museum

Those of you with long memories and short trousers may remember that I mentioned in the last Mary Rose blog that I do a lot of work for the Mary Rose 500 Appeal. The purpose of the 500 Public Appeal is to raise £1 million, which will be spent on helping to fund the new purpose-designed and built Mary Rose Museum.

The Mary Rose trust already has fundraisers, working with companies and organisations that donate large sums of money to charities dedicated to preserving the history and culture of the UK, but the 500 Appeal is different. This £1 million is to be raised by ordinary people, through private donations and from events, organised by volunteers. One such event was the “Salute to the Senior Service”, a 1940’s Tea Dance organised by the head of the 500 Appeal, Fiona Harvey, with help from Now that’s Jive, that was held at Southsea Castle, on 20th September.

Everything was laid out like a 1940’s dance, from the trestle tables and chairs arranged around an enormous wooden dance floor to the masking tape on the windows and posters telling us to ‘Dig for Victory’. There was even an unexploded bomb outside the NAAFI!
Everybody made a huge effort when it came to costumes, with many representatives from the various armed forces, including Royal Navy, RAF, WRNS and the Army, as well as several US army. Everyone else came in civilian dress, and even the bar staff had pencil moustaches. All the music was provided by Now That’s Jive, who also gave an amazing demonstration on how to dance 1940’s style! Everyone enjoyed the night, and overall raised over £800!

Now, some of you are probably wondering “What does the 1940’s have to do with the Mary Rose?” Well, as I mentioned above, this was intended as a tribute to the Royal Navy, who did such a great job of defending the UK from attack during the Second World War alongside the RAF. The concept of a Royal Navy began five hundred years ago, after the death of Henry VII, when his son, Henry VIII, decided that England needed protection at sea, so he ordered the building of two ships. One, the Peter Pomegranate, has since vanished into the mists of time, but the other, the Mary Rose, is still around, in the city that built her, crewed her and which she sank defending from a French Invasion Fleet in 1545. As one of the first ships to be built for what would eventually become the Royal Navy, it’s fair to say that the Mary Rose is the grandmother of all the ships.

Looking forward, on the 31st of October the Mary Rose Museum will be hosting the apothecary Jack Greene, who simultaneously thrills and disgusts our visitors with his demonstrations of Tudor medicine, from salves and ointments to leeches. He will be talking about the barber-surgeon, one of the most important people on the Mary Rose, and indeed one of the few to have his own cabin!

Having a barber-surgeon on board was one of the benefits of being in the King’s Navy. Barber-surgeons were highly trained practitioners of medicine, and could treat almost any ailment, at no cost to the patient. Despite the horror stories you may hear, barber-Surgeons knew about hygiene, and kept their tools clean, at least by Tudor standards, and would use natural antiseptics, such as lavender, thyme and honey.

If you want to know more about the barber-surgeon, Jack Greene’s talks and demonstrations are taking place in the Mary Rose museum, and admission is free with a valid Mary Rose Ticket. We also have a permanent display in the Mary Rose Museum dedicated to the Barber Surgeon, with some of the real objects found in his cabin, as well as replicas of some of them which you can handle, as well as a replica of his cabin you can actually go into!
Another event we have coming up is Tours by Torchlight, a spooky evening in the Museum which involves a lanthorn-lit tour, a talk on Paranormal Portsmouth and hopefully a few scares. The event is on 30th October, from 6:30PM until 9:00PM, and tickets are £10 for Adults, £5 for Concessions, and can be bought from the Mary Rose museum desk or via e-mail at mailto:S.M.Clabby@maryrose500.org?subject=Tours%20by%20Torchlight.

Information of other events can be found at http://www.maryrose500.org/, or on our facebook page www.facebook.com/maryrose500. We also post updates on our twitter, twitter.com/MaryRose500.

Memories of Portsmouth Naval Base and the Historic Dockyard over the years

Early 1960s

My father was a Lieutenant in the Royal Navy (retired as Lieutenant Commander) and based at Whale Island followed by a ship berthed in the Dockyard.

At around the age of 7 I found myself despatched on Saturday mornings with my father, just for the morning.

At first we were at Whale Island where I ‘played’ in the office on the typewriter and with different coloured inks and where there was a very nice elderly gentleman by the name of Ernie.

My father one day summoned a young rating to take me to the ‘sweet shop’; this young man was obviously very unhappy at toting a little girl around and was teased by his mates.

On another occasion, having watched my father salute as we passed various naval personnel, I was determined that he would not on one occasion; so as he raised his arm in salute I pulled it down – I can still remember now just how unpopular I was!

I was also taken to see the Royal Yacht, which was moored at Whale Island. I remember asking if we could go on board and being told that we could not.

During this period I was also taken to a fireworks night and children’s Christmas parties (I still have my gift of ‘Compendium of Games’ which has been played with countless times over the years).

My father then moved on to a ship (I forget the name) and we parked the car directly by the side of it.

On one occasion he took me through the dockyard to HMS Victory and took me on a tour of it. I remember standing where Nelson fell and watching and listening to my father in his uniform and feeling that this was a very special occasion and I wished I’d had a camera.
On the various occasions since then that I have visited I have always thought of this one time.

I was also taken on a tour of his ship and to a high point on the ship where there was a single seat in a glass ‘turret’; this I was told was where the captain sat. (This is the version I have fixed in my mind – whether this is 100% correct I have no idea).

At mid morning a youngish man would arrive, call me ‘Miss’ and bring us coffee.
At some point in the morning my father would take me down an external staircase and a man in a small boat would arrive; I was to go with him and he made various stops around the dockyard. This was another treat most weeks. When we arrived back my father was always waiting.

My father would also visit the Wardroom where I would sit quietly in a large chair; other officers in there would scowl and look disapprovingly at me.

I was also shown the ‘duty cabin’ where my father slept when on night duty – I remember thinking that the bed was very strange – it seemed very high and nothing like ours at home.


I have one photo taken of the three of us on HMS Vanguard; I don’t remember much about the visit but I do remember the photo being taken.


At the age of 50 my father retired from the Navy and he died at age 54.


Late 1960s

My mother and I went to ‘Navy Days’. What a wonderful event!
It was to become our ‘annual event’ – for years.

We clambered over ships, were given talks and had a very nice lunch in a restaurant erected on the Quay. There was always music – ‘pop music’ and that made the atmosphere wonderful. I remember on one ship that The Monkees ‘Happy Valley Sunday’ was playing.

We queued and went on submarines – they had notices beside them warning that they were ‘Unsuitable for the Elderly and Infirm’. I was quite worried and asked my mum if she fitted that category? The answer was ‘No’! The submarines were very interesting but I knew that I would never want to serve on one or have anyone I knew serve on one.

The toilets were always intriguing with large Union Jacks. Only years later I realised what they were covering(!).

We went on landing craft trips around the dockyard. This was wonderful because the naval personnel would make it bounce a bit and the spray engulfed us – great fun! Everyone laughed and joked.

I simply LOVED these annual trips and one of my favourites was the deck of the aircraft carrier.


Today

I still love the dockyard!

I love the smell of the ships and the sounds and the atmosphere.

I absolutely love the aircraft carrier and could stand all day on the flight deck. I love them totally. Over the years I have visited with my husband – and we’ve taken our son.

I think it was the year my mother-in-law passed away and our son was aged 7 – we entered the ‘Guess the Name’ of a huge cuddly elephant; it could only be one name – my mother in laws. We won the elephant!


Today Navy Days has changed totally. I think it is ‘less about ships’ and ‘more about everything else’.

Over the years I have enjoyed visits to HMS Warrior, the Mary Rose, the Museum, the Submarine Museum and to Explosion!


The Future

I am already looking forward to 2010 when I can visit the ships again and as with the last Navy Days we went straight for the aircraft carrier and got on within 30 minutes or so – I think we left some 2 hours later! I was in ‘7th Heaven’ having looked around and purchased souvenirs.

I think we walked around the Dockyard about twice and I was visibly tired even in my trainers – at the end of the day.

Written by
Mrs Helen Bailey
13.9.09

The Mary Rose – The Oldest Ship in the Dockyard!

Hello! My name is Simon Clabby, and I’m going to be writing for this blog on behalf of the Mary Rose Museum!

Officially my job at the Mary Rose is Museum Host, dealing with admissions and general enquiries, but I also do costumed interpretation and trail design. I am also involved quite heavily with the Mary Rose 500 appeal (www.maryrose500.org), and set up the 500 appeals Facebook page (www.facebook.com/MaryRose500), Twitter feed (www.twitter.com/MaryRose500) and the flickr gallery (http://www.flickr.com/photos/maryrose500/). Oh, and did I mention I also have two degrees in Palaeobiology?

The Mary Rose, for those of you who don’t know, was the favourite ship of King Henry VIII, who ruled England from 1509 until 1547. She was launched in the summer of 1511, and contrary to popular belief had a highly successful career spanning 34 years, before sinking in a freak accident whilst repelling a French invasion fleet in 1545.

She’s probably most famous, however, for being lifted from her resting place in 1982, when 60 million people from around the world saw the large yellow lifting cradle emerge from the depths, the remains of the Mary Rose nestled within. She was put on public display the following year in the ship hall, and the museum, containing some of the artefacts found alongside the hull, opened in 1985.

The Mary Rose Ship Hall has now closed its doors temporarily, so work can begin on a brand new museum, which will reunite the ship and her artefacts for the first time in 30 years. Due to open in 2012, the new museum will have a reconstruction of the ship alongside the real hull, with artefacts on display where they were originally found. At the moment we have 6% of the collection on display, so to have 70% on display in the new museum is a significant leap and it is exciting to think how there will be much more on offer to show visitors.

Along with the 500th anniversary of the ship’s construction, it’s a truly amazing time to be working at the Mary Rose, and we’re all looking forward to 2012!

The current museum will remain open though, and will be bringing to you many activities and events, which will ensure that you enjoy your visit!

Portsmouth Historic Dockyard - if you haven't been to this place, you're in for a treat!

Hi, I am the first guest blogger for Portsmouth Historic Dockyard. Well, if you haven't been to this place, you’re in for a treat.

If you’re a fan of ships and the sea, it’s brilliant and even if you’re not enthusiastic about boats, ships or cannons, I can almost guarantee that after a visit, you will be.

To see the tall masts of HMS Victory, even before you have set foot inside of the Dockyard, it’s enough to lift your heart. Then to actually walk into and on, those famous wooden decks, it’s a magic experience.

On board HMS Victory you can read all about the ship, you can maybe today get a ‘virtual tour,’ but nothing, and I mean nothing, can compare to actually being inside this wonderful vessel.

The cramped spaces, the low headroom of the gun decks, the massive, yes massive ropes, or rather ‘cables’, ropes, which are 12 inches diameter, to haul up the Anchor, the Iron Cannons, the capstan, all just massive pieces of history.

But before you even get to that, the ‘Block’ area, the exhibition of steam driven and iron machines which made all these things, on site, is a great experience, full of information and ‘hands on’ exhibits and you can then see why, with all this technology, even in the 18th Century, Britain really did rule the waves.

Outside, on the dockside, the sight of HMS Warrior, again, just too much to see in a few hours and wonderfully preserved, if that is the right word, but, brilliant iron and wood all coming together to make this a most impressive vessel.

I had originally only meant to spend an hour or two looking at the Victory but, I had, in all, over six, yes, six hours in that yard and even then, I hadn't covered everything, I didn’t even glance at the Mary Rose part of the yard, I didn’t have time left, so a day or even a week wouldn’t give you enough time to savour the delights of this wonderful place.

The staff were all helpful, cheery and full of information, all willing to help with any question that I fired at them.

Highly recommended.

Denis P Gibson. 04 July 2009.

Portsmouth Historic Dockyard are looking for other guest bloggers - if you are interested, please contact us on 023 928 94550 or email enquiries@historicdockyard.co.uk

Lord Nelson - Hero written all over his face?

Square forehead, set back ears and a Roman nose – the makings of a hero is all in the face, according to a unique new study released by Wood’s 100 Old Navy Rum. And, to test the theory, it has analysed the face of one of our best-known military leaders, Vice Admiral Horatio Lord Nelson - whose flagship HMS Victory can be seen in Portsmouth Historic Dockyard!

Personology is deemed to be 92% accurate so Naomi Tickle, a leading international personologist, face reader and author of ‘You Can Read a Face Like a Book’, identified the key facial characteristics that epitomise heroism, and applied these to a portrait of Nelson, to see if he displayed the traits, and whether they were common among people in the public eye today.

In her findings Tickle says: “The relationship between the physical facial structure and personality has been well researched since the 1920's. Whether it’s traditionally heroic traits like a Roman nose or more obscure characteristics such as a square forehead, heroic people do share similar facial features, and Nelson is no exception. These are also present on the faces of powerful figures today, whether it’s world leaders, sportsmen, or simply brave people we know.”

The report: Lord Nelson’s Face
1) Roman nose
Good at managing, delegating and overseeing his people.
Also seen in Prince William, Marco Pierre White
2) Square forehead
A seed planter. Liked to initiate the ideas and pass them along to others to carry through.
Also seen on Barack Obama, Bear Grylls
3) Ears set back, low on head
A visionary leader. Would have demanded extremely high standards of his men.
Also seen on Richard Branson
4) Pointed chin
Very stubborn and tenacious.
Also seen in Quentin Tarantino
5) Head wider at the back
Very competitive. He found it irritating when others were slower than himself. Definitely a ‘take charge’ person. Common among top rugby players and footballers.
Also seen on Martin Johnson, Sir Alan Sugar, Robbie Coltrane
6) Exposed eyelid
He liked the bottom line and was very action-driven: “Come on let's go, what are we waiting for?”
Also seen on Sir Anthony Hopkins, Patrick Dempsey, Vladimir Putin
7) Outer corner of eye lower than inner corner
A perfectionist and noticed every move. He didn't miss much.
Also seen on Daniel Craig
8) Oval eyebrow
Good at bringing ideas or concepts together. His thoughts were well organised and express his ideas clearly.
Also seen on Nicholas Sarkozy, Sir Sean Connery
9) Sloped back/high forehead
Extremely intelligent, quick to think and respond in the moment. Good in emergencies could think on his feet.
Also seen on Andrew Marr

So what do you think? Was Nelson destined to be a hero - was it written all over his face or do these conclusions mean that someone who does not have a Roman nose, a pointed chin, exposed eyelids and oval eyebrows cannot be a hero? Were then any heroes in history that had none of these facial features? How do we define a hero? Was it purely that Horatio Nelson’s successful and surprisingly modern leadership strategy made him a hero?

Would love to hear what you think!