Welcome to the January 2024 Maritime Heritage Trust e-newsletter.
As the only national membership organisation for the maritime preservation sector, we support our members – individual ship owners and small voluntary groups – in caring for the UK's rich maritime heritage and building a strong future for historic vessels.
We look forward to bringing you news from our members, our special events and all things maritime heritage in the UK and beyond.
Please share with others in your organisation
We start 2024 with some good news but also some really big issues for maritime heritage. An exceptional number of Thames sailing barges have been put up for sale and some are at risk. As if to highlight this, the sailing barge Wilfred, a restaurant boat, sank at her moorings in Central London during the recent storms. The sail training sector has seen several historic vessels withdrawn leaving them with no income for upkeep. More worryingly National Museums Liverpool will shortly begin “deconstructing” (ie scrapping) the Irish Sea schooner De Wadden, built in 1917 and in Liverpool’s Museum ownership since 1984. Vessels such as the De Wadden were hugely important for the development of coastal and port communities in Wales, Ireland – north and south, as well as Liverpool – and were among the last to carry cargo under sail.
One has to ask if a vessel such as De Wadden isn’t a priority for Merseyside Museums, what is?
Better news – meeting with NHMF consultants
As reported in our last newsletter the National Heritage Memorial Fund (and Heritage Lottery) have picked up some of the distress signals from the sector and commissioned BOP Consulting and Raybel Charters to gather evidence and develop a framework to inform decision making (see full remit in our November Newsletter). We were pleased to get a meeting with the consultants at the end of November and emphasized (as per our campaign) the need for a fair deal for operating vessels (not just museum ships), the case for an expanded youth experience programme for the sector, help in finding new business and, above all, help with emergency repairs where the vessel is at real risk of loss, not restricted to the 200 listed historic fleet vessels.
We had a good discussion and look forward to seeing what emerges.
See also National Historic Ships UK Historic Fleet –
at risk assessment Nov 2023 here.
We will be hosting our very first Member’s Talk event on
Wednesday 17th January 2024 at 7.30pm.
Please CLICK HERE TO REGISTER TODAY if you would like to attend. This is a member’s only event, but please do nudge any members you know to attend or show it to anyone who would be interested in becoming a member.
About this event
Discovered, disassembled and raised in 2002-3, the Newport Medieval Ship has undergone extensive analysis, documentation and conservation to uncover the secrets of this mid-15th Century Clinker-Built Merchant Vessel.
Join Dr Toby Jones, Curator as we discover how advanced three-dimensional digital recording and modelling technologies have helped to create a comprehensive and accurate digital data set, enabling researchers to determine the dimensions, capacity, and performance of the original vessel.
This Curator's talk with be followed by a short audience Q&A so you can put your questions to the experts.
About the project
The examination of the individual ship timbers and overall hull form have led to a greater understanding of Atlantic-Iberian ship design, construction sequence, and woodland resource management in the late medieval period. Recovery of such a unique find provides rare insights into the technological innovations that accompanied the Age of Exploration and the complexity and scale of Anglo-Iberian trading links.
Research efforts are currently focussed on plans for reassembly and display, with a multi-disciplinary team designing a comprehensive support structure. Made from fibre-reinforced polymers that will provide universal support for the hull remains, the support structure would remain largely hidden in the inter-frame spaces of the re-assembled hull, thus satisfying both structural and aesthetic challenges.
Visit https://www.newportship.org/ to find out more about the Friends of the Newport Ship.
Heritage Harbours (and Heritage Inland Ports)
Image: Ipswich Heritage Harbour teamNow We Are 12
We were pleased to announce at the beginning of the month, the additional of two new Heritage Harbours - Ipswich and Bideford & River Torridge making 12 in all.
The full press announcement can be view here
More information about Ipswich Heritage Harbour can be found here
and about Bideford & River Torridge here
If you would be interested in developing a Heritage Harbour project and would like to know more contact info@maritimeheritage.org.uk
Free to join on Zoom or attend in Lisbon.
To register contact lisbon2024@emh-org.com
Good News from SS Robin
SS Robin has a new home at Trinity Buoy Wharf.
After many years of uncertainty, Eric Reynolds, Chairman of SS Robin Trust and developer of Trinity Buoy Wharf has been able to provide a permanent home. The historic importance of the Robin cannot be overstated – the only Victorian seagoing cargo steamer to survive intact.
She is our last link with Britain’s dominance of international trade at the start of the 20th century and was saved by our predecessors, the Maritime Trust and steamed back from Spain in 1974.
