James Daly: Navy Days then and now

After this week’s announcement about Navy Days 2010, I thought it might be interesting to take a look back at Navy Days over the years. It’s very much a Portsmouth institution, theres nowhere else where you can see so much of the Royal Navy’s past and present in one place all together. Not only is it a great day out but it’s also a great chance for the Royal Navy to showcase what it does.


Not only does Navy Days tell us about the History of the Royal Navy, it is a part of Naval History itself. They have been taking place for many years - I’ve seen posters advertising Navy Days dating back to the early 20^th Century, showing rows of battleships decked out in flags. My Granddad can remember going just after the war, and watching Fairey Swordfish Biplanes attacking ships with bags of flour. I can remember my Gran telling me about going on the US Warships, and the American sailors serving up hot dogs!

I first went to Navy Days in June 1994. It was the 50^th Anniversary of D-Day, and there were plenty of interesting Royal Navy and foreign warships in the Harbour, to take part in the International Fleet Review later that week. I can remember going on HMS Ilustrious, and plenty of Destroyers and Minesweepers. I can also remember seeing the US Cruiser USS Normandy, and the wartime liberty ship Jeremiah O’Brien. But what I remember most of all is my dad showing me round the Dockyard that he worked in, explaining how the Docks and caissons worked, and pointing out the parts of the ships that he worked on – ‘oh look, there’s number two weapons shop!’ and ‘that’s number three basin!’ sounds quite impressive when you’re 11!

The last time I went to Navy Days was in 2008. What I remember most from then is the foreign warships – Japanese, Chilean, Danish and French. It was interesting to have a look at HMS Ilustrious again 14 years later, and the Landing Ship RFA Largs Bay was a rare visitor to Portsmouth. And of course theres nothing quite like watching the Royal Marines Band close the day.

I’m looking forward to Navy Days already. I had a sneak peak of HMS Daring last year at the Royal Navy past and present event, and she really is something else. It’s a long time since RFA Argus has been in Portsmouth too. A former merchant vessel that served in the Falklands War before becoming and RFA ship, it will be a rare opportunity to visit a Falklands veteran. Hopefully we can expect to see some foreign warships too.

John Daly, Guest Blogger

Jack the Painter: Britain’s first Terrorist? In Portsmouth Dockyard?!

Very few people know is that perhaps the first ever terrorist act on British soil took place in Portsmouth Dockyard. In December 1776 James Aitken, a British sympathiser for the American colonies in the war of independence, tried to burn down Portsmouth Dockyard.

A petty criminal, Aitken had travelled to America. After developing sympathy for the American struggle for independence, he travelled to France to suggest a scheme to the American agent in Paris. Aitken had gone to very one of the six Royal Dockyards in England, and had even developed an incendiary device to use. He had even managed to slip into the Dockyard, undetected, and inspect storehouses and make sketches.

On 7 December 1776 Aitken entered the Ropehouse, which ran the width of the yard. After trouble lighting his fuse he rushed out, and made his escape on a cart and then on foot, before looking back and seeing flames.

Hundreds of men fought the blaze, including marines, yard workers and even sailors. The fire was put out with little damage, but near panic reigned. Newspapers across the country reported the fire. Even King George III followed developments closely. The authorities were soon on the trail of Aitken, who had been spotted lurking around the Dockyard.

Aitken had made his way to London, but the contact he had been told to meet by the agent in France was in fact a double agent. After un-successfully trying to burn the Dockyard at Plymouth Aitken was arrested for housebreaking at Odiham in North Hampshire. He was charged with the Dockyard fire and then tried, convicted and hanged in March 1777. His trial at Winchester was a huge public spectacle, and dominated Newspapers and Magazines. Even his execution was a spectacle, Aitken having been hung from the mizzenmast of the Frigate Arethusa. After death his body was hung in irons at Fort Blockhouse, across the Harbour entrance at Gosport.

That ‘Jack the Painter’ chose to target Portsmouth Dockyard shows just what an important site it was in the late 18th Century, during the wars with Revolutionary America and later France. The Yard would have been bustling with the ‘wooden walls’ of the Royal Navy’s warships. Not only was it important militarily, but the Dockyard was also a very public symbol of British power.

But what is also interesting about ‘Jack the Painter’ is that his acts instilled fear much greater than their actual consequences, and in this sense he was the first Terrorist. And it happened here, in Portsmouth Dockyard. What more evidence is needed about just how important the Dockyard was?

James Daly, Guest Blogger http://dalyhistory.wordpress.com

Introducing our latest guest blogger James Daly: The Dockyard: ‘like the writing on a stick of rock’

James Daly: Historian, researcher and writer from Portsmouth, England. He specialises in Military, Maritime, Naval, Local and Family History.

The Dockyard: ‘like the writing on a stick of rock’

There’s something about Portsmouth – the clue is in the name, I guess – that has made it a place where people come to and go from, for hundreds of years of its history. Think about it, how many Portsmouth families can trace back their history in the city to past 1800? Not many, I suspect. Because people come and go so much.

Take my own family for instance. In 1900, my various ancestors were living in Lancashire, Sussex, Ireland and London! Yet by 1914 all of my great-grandparents had somehow found their way to Portsmouth – and for most of them, it was the sea that brought them here.

Two of my great-grandparents came to Portsmouth to join the Royal Navy – both of them became Stokers, in fact. My great-granddad on my Dads side served in Battleships and Submarines for over 20 years, and my great-granddad on my Mum’s side fought at the Battle of Jutland in 1916.

And in the Second World War my great-uncle joined up as a Stoker, serving on the Cruiser HMS Enterprise. Sadly, he died of illness after being torpedoed in the South Atlantic on his way home on the SS Laconia. One Granddad worked for Vospers Shipbuilders in Old Portsmouth before joining the Army in 1942, and my other Granddad worked in the Dockyard as a painter and labourer.

Even after the war the trend carries on. Two of my uncles were shipwrights, and one uncle and my Dad were both electrical fitters. One uncle even moved down to Plymouth to work in the Dockyard there.

I’ve heard some fascinating Dockyard stories. Just before the Falklands War in 1982, the Government announced cuts to the Dockyard, including redundancies. The Defence Secretary, John Nott, visited the Dockyard for talks with Union leaders. Most of the workers gathered around the building to hear the outcome. When the Union men and John Nott emerged, the Union leader barely got past “I would just like to say…” before a missile was launched from the crowd and hit John Nott on the head. A full-scale riot ensued and John Nott had to be smuggled out by the back door.

Another thing my Dad remembers is the sometimes lax attitudes in the ‘yard. At the end of one summer two ‘new’ faces emerged on his section. Asking the charge hand who they were and where they had been, he was told “oh, that’s so and so, they’ve been down the beach all summer”. You wonder how anything got done! But in 1982, the Dockyard managed to get the fleet ready to sail to the Falklands in a matter of days. You get the impression that when things had to be done, they were done and done well. But all the same, it sounds like it was a parallel universe all of its own.

My Dad still has many of his old Dockyard tools – one of the things about serving a Dockyard apprenticeship, is that you get to keep your tools, complete with Government broad-arrow mark on them. Many of them have long outlasted their counterparts from B&Q. He even has his coffin-like toolbox in the shed, with P DALY stencilled on the side. My Dad even can remember cutting the grass with one of my uncles old shipwrights adzes that he found in the shed at my grandparents.

When he’s doing DIY around the house, you can see the apprenticeship training. Everything has to be just so, there’s no rushing. But then you wouldn’t expect anything different from someone who had to spend a month shaving a block of brass to within a tenth of a millimetre during his apprenticeship! You can understand why it had to be done properly, because often men’s lives depended on it.

I’ve often heard it said that many of the tools and materials in the Dockyard mysteriously grew legs and managed to walk out of the gate. At one point, Shipwrights even had it written into their contracts that they could keep off-cuts of wood! I wonder how much of Portsmouth would fall down if you took away all of the wood stolen from the Dockyard over the years…

So the Dockyard really does run through Portsmouth, like the writing on a stick or rock. It’s made the city – and its people – what it is. I cannot help but feel that even though few people work in the Dockyard now, its influence will take many years to disappear.

James Daly, Guest Blogger for Portsmouth Historic Dockyard. Visit his own 'Daly History Blog' at: http://dalyhistory.wordpress.com/

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