Being asked to write a specific blog can be a bit difficult
as all of a sudden I feel all those eloquent thoughts I might have had shrivel
up and turn to mush, almost immediately. Hence, I just tend to write on
whatever topic comes into my head that week or in the moment that I sit down to
write it. So you can almost imagine my reaction when I was asked to write a
blog on H.M.S Victory, or more specifically Portsmouth Historic Dockyard. It
went something along the lines of “oh hec, what in the world am I going to
write about this place?” Maritime history, lots of school groups and a weird
vibe in our friendship group were all I could really remember of it and I got
the feeling it had the makings of a one liner – “you should go, it’s a really great
day out, especially if the sun is shining!”…… Not my style though is it and it
reeks of cynicism.
Thankfully, I’m one of those people who tends to take a lot
of pictures on a day out like this and that actually came in very handy when
thinking about this review, because those images prompted my memory. The whole
complex is steeped in history – you’ve got the ships, various statues, plaques
and memorials, museums, workshops and buildings – the Dockyard really does take
you on a chronological tour of the British Navy and of British maritime
history. That said, we didn’t necessarily adopt that approach in how we went
around the site. Turns out we went backwards in time, when I think actually I’d
have preferred to go forwards, but that is personal preference and as a visitor
you have the freedom to make that decision.
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| H.M.S Warrior |
Our first stop was H.M.S Warrior 1860 and this ship was
pretty good for having a good old poke around. “The fastest, largest and most powerful warship in the world when she
was launched. Such was her reputation that enemy fleets were intimidated by her
obvious supremacy and deterred from attacking Britain at sea – yet she never
fired a shot in anger” reads the website (1)”. In presenting the ship and its history the
Dockyard have tried to re-create areas of the ship and show them as they would
have been. For example, the cannons are in situ, swords are placed in the
holders and the captain’s cabin is furnished. It gave quite an authentic feel,
even if those particular items were not necessarily authentic to the ship and
the period. This method of display is a technique I tend to be fond of and
actually, looking back I think it was done well. There were also some very
helpful guides/volunteers aboard to offer information and insight into the
history of H.M.S Warrior, which accompanied information panels around deck. And
again, from what I can remember, we were actually invited to ask questions. The
guides weren’t passive or inanimate to our experience, they wanted to engage
with us and I felt the need to find a question to ask just to respond to this eagerness
to impart their knowledge.
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| Aboard H.M.S Warrior |
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| Captain's Cabin H.M.S Warrior |
However, that said, having just taken another look at the
Portsmouth Historic Dockyard website and the page dedicated to H.M.S. Warrior,
I can’t help but feel I failed to take much away from our visit to this ship
and that actually, the website has proved to have greater impact. Now I don’t
know if this is because of the time that’s lapsed between the visit and
actually writing this blog, but reading about how this ship was the “pride of
Queen’s Victoria’s Fleet” and how the “combination of iron sides, which offered
protection from the exploding shells and the ability to carry large guns,
changed the nature of marine warfare” (2), didn’t ring any bells and I can’t
say it was something I remember learning on the day; which is a shame because
it’s a fact I actually found particularly interesting. I suppose it throws up
questions about how effective sites are in educating in the long term. I might
well have been engaged at the time, but the retention of information seems a
little lacking. Now is that down to me, or the experience I wonder?
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| H.M.S Victory |
Anyway, next stop was H.M.S. Victory and our main reason for
going. As the Royal Navy’s most famous warship, and known for her role in the
Battle of Trafalgar, H.M.S Victory attracts over 400,000 people a year, most of
whom desire to see the spot on deck where Nelson fell. This is marked by a
plaque reading, “here Nelson Fell, 21st October 1805” and again, was
something I remember being surprised at on the day. I think my response went
something along the lines of “how can they be sure that that is the exact
spot?” I’d love to know, so if any readers do, please let me know. I have to
admit remembering little else about this ship, which feels like blasphemy, but
naval history just isn’t my thing.
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| "Here Nelson Fell..." |
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| The Mary Rose Museum |
You might therefore be wondering, what on earth made me
visit if I felt that way. Well, the draw for me had really been the chance to
visit the Mary Rose Museum, which had opened in May 2013 and displays both the
ship and its artefacts on an unprecedented scale. Costing somewhere in the
region of £27 million, the museum retells the story of the Mary Rose, from its
crew right through to how it was raised from the bed of Solent back in 1982. It
is still experiencing ongoing development, meaning that it is still subject to
closures as new work is carried out (as will happen Dec 15 to Summer 2016) but
for me, the draw was the fact that while it presents a significant proportion
of naval history, it is also hugely significant in terms of marine archaeology
and poses important questions about preservation. So it was these bigger,
overarching themes that were the real draw for me.
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| Interactive Screens |
The Mary Rose is the only 16th century warship on
display anywhere in the world and you get a clear sense of the unique nature of
the ship and its history from the level of care and standard of work that has
gone into the exhibition. It felt fresh and modern, but importantly, also
attempted to tackle some of the big questions and themes that had remained
somewhat hidden from the ships narrative in the past. The dominate image we
have of the Mary Rose is as the favourite war ship of Henry VIII, not
necessarily as the place of work for a huge crew or for having impact on 16th
Century science. So the fact this museum attempts to readdress that is a great
thing.
The galleries themselves make great use of technology and
merge modern and traditional museum display techniques together to create an
interactive and informative learning environment. For example, there were a
number of touch screens where you could select specific artefacts to see them
close up and 3-dimensionally, but alongside those enlarged images, there were
also video reconstructions to show the items in use. They became animate
objects to interactive with and not those merely to be observed. There were also
sensory activities, where visitors were encouraged to feel the hammer and
chisel marks on a cannon ball for example, or to remove the stop from a jar
that once contained menthol and so to get a sense of the smell. There were also
eye catching “Did you know” and “Don’t Miss” panels – which enticed the
attention of those who might not be as drawn to great lumps of text. I got the
impression that the museum had tried to cater for a wide audience, with different
learning styles in mind and that was a nice thing to see.  |
| Multi-Sensory Activities |
Of course, you are also able to see the wreckage of the Mary
Rose and view each of its decks, while the techniques for the preservation of
the ship are also explained. (3) The Mary Rose has led to significant
developments in the field of conservation, preservation and maritime
archaeology that to see it in the flesh is something else. It’s a really
special moment when you first lay your eyes on it.
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| The Mary Rose |
I think what has to be my favourite part of the whole museum
however, was the emphasis placed on ‘The men of the Mary Rose’ – an attempt to weave
real ordinary lives into the narrative of the ship and remind visitors that it
was ordinary men who had served aboard and who died when the ship sank. The
layout of the museum allows visitors to follow the lives of particular craftsmen
aboard ship and answers all sorts of questions about what they might have
experienced.
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| The Men of the Mary Rose |
And to do this, the museum has made great use of forensic
science. For example, in the case of
the Carpenter an artist has
reconstructed the face of a man found on the orlop deck with a number of
woodworking tools next to him; the assumption being that as the carpenter he
would have been as close to the action as possible so as to make the
necessarily repairs to the ship as soon as possible. They’ve also done a lot of
analysis on the skeleton of this individual and are able to inform people about
him in more detail, such as that fact that he suffered with arthritis in his
spine and ribs. This technique is used for a number of other people employed
aboard ship not just the carpenter, and includes the master gunner and surgeon.
They’ve attempted, and I’d argue rather successfully, to give visitors an idea
of daily life and routine aboard ship, from what you would eat, to “keeping the
faith” and what medical treatment you might get if needed. By attempting to put
life stories back into the narrative of what happened to the Mary Rose, the
museum are telling a largely untold story to a wider audience and I was really
impressed by that approach.
Reminding myself of the trip and the history the site has to
offer has actually renewed my enthusiasm for it. It has lots to offer visitors
and makes the annual pass ticket price worth it. Maritime history might not be
my thing, but Portsmouth Historic Dockyard is definitely worth visiting, even just
for the Mary Rose Museum.
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