Travelogue Part 1 - Portsmouth
Oct. 15th, 2006 04:22 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
castaliaAs promised, here's some rambly squee about my brief trip down to Portsmouth then over to Bideford in Devon. I had to take a week out from thesis writing, but it was SO worth it.
First up, Portsmouth. So much better than the first trip, b/c this time I actually had plenty of time to see exactly what I wanted to see. I spent almost all of my time at the Historic Dockyard, both with my two classmates and by myself. The first day all three of us went, as we had the bulk of the afternoon to kill. Helen and I got the "see everything" tickets, but Marie only went to see the Mary Rose with us as she'd been to all the others before.
We saw the Mary Rose first, and all I can say is wow. I'm still amazed at how they were able to salvage something so old and fragile, and I love that people care enough to spend so much money on preserving it. They're still spraying it with the waxy solution stuff and will be doing so for another few years, but then the ship is supposed to go into an open-air display. I'll have to go back someday to see that. Then we went through the museum, which was good as well. Lots of genuine artifacts they've preserved, plus a number of replications on display. A cannons! Lots of cannons. Really old cannons.
Old-fashioned breech-loaders like this one:
And some with lovely seals:
Okay, I lied about the order a bit. The FIRST thing I did was wander to the end of the dockyard so I could see the Victory up close.
There's me in front of her:
And the entrance:
Marie teased me about having "geekgasms". But seriously, I was so damn excited. She was so pretty and massive and just awesome. Helen and I went on the guided tour that afternoon, which was fabulous. The guide didn't tell us anything I didn't already know, but it was still nice. They don't allow photos, so I have none to show you, but I strongly recommend any Age of Sail fan to go someday. She's in such beautiful condition, the cannons have shiny flintlock firing mechanisms, there are still a few cannons on board that were actually IN the Battle of Trafalgar (though some have been replaced by replicates), and they've preserved both the spot where Nelson was shot and the spot where he died. It was...reverent.
The only thing I didn't like about the guided tour was it didn't leave you enough time to linger if you wanted, so I may have to come back during the seasons when they let people do their own tours. Still, it was a brilliant experience and I'm thrilled to have done it.
Last on the list for the day was the Trafalgar Sail Exhibition, featuring the only surviving sail from the Battle of Trafalgar - Victory's foretopsail, no less. A massive pock-marked piece of canvas, amazingly found in a gymnasium somewhere after it had been shoved into storage and forgotten. They've restored it as much as possible, cleaning it so it won't degrade further, and they've partially rolled it out so you can see just how massive it is. They also have a screen in there playing a short segment of Master and Commander and then some info about the sail - I could hear the music (the Tallis "Fantasia") playing as we went up the stairs and it nicely added to the whole experience.
The next day I went by myself and saw the HMS Warrior, representing the sail+steam era. Some more lovely cannons, including this pretty brass one:
Not to mention some great big ones on the gundeck:
Afterwards I went through the Royal Navy museum, where they had tons of lovely artifacts on display, including some of Lord Exmouth's belongings - the swords and medals of our very own Admiral Pellew. Very nice. Then it was next door to the Nelson musuem, where I thought I'd died and gone to geek heaven. All sorts of Nelsoniana, as they put it, including collectors pieces made in honor of him, some of the furniture he used on board the Victory, samples of his own handwriting, and even the pigtail from his hair that was given to Lady Hamilton after his death. I spent quite a lot of time in this museum.
By that time, Marie and Helen were finished with their PhD interviews, so after a quick meal we saw Helen to her train, then Marie and I headed out towards Devon. I was sorry to go, but now I can say I've been to Portsmouth, that I've been on the Victory and wandered through so many historic buildings and ships. I'm well pleased :)
More pics on my Photobucket account. Part 2 of the travelogue to come.
First up, Portsmouth. So much better than the first trip, b/c this time I actually had plenty of time to see exactly what I wanted to see. I spent almost all of my time at the Historic Dockyard, both with my two classmates and by myself. The first day all three of us went, as we had the bulk of the afternoon to kill. Helen and I got the "see everything" tickets, but Marie only went to see the Mary Rose with us as she'd been to all the others before.
We saw the Mary Rose first, and all I can say is wow. I'm still amazed at how they were able to salvage something so old and fragile, and I love that people care enough to spend so much money on preserving it. They're still spraying it with the waxy solution stuff and will be doing so for another few years, but then the ship is supposed to go into an open-air display. I'll have to go back someday to see that. Then we went through the museum, which was good as well. Lots of genuine artifacts they've preserved, plus a number of replications on display. A cannons! Lots of cannons. Really old cannons.
Old-fashioned breech-loaders like this one:
And some with lovely seals:
Okay, I lied about the order a bit. The FIRST thing I did was wander to the end of the dockyard so I could see the Victory up close.
There's me in front of her:
And the entrance:
Marie teased me about having "geekgasms". But seriously, I was so damn excited. She was so pretty and massive and just awesome. Helen and I went on the guided tour that afternoon, which was fabulous. The guide didn't tell us anything I didn't already know, but it was still nice. They don't allow photos, so I have none to show you, but I strongly recommend any Age of Sail fan to go someday. She's in such beautiful condition, the cannons have shiny flintlock firing mechanisms, there are still a few cannons on board that were actually IN the Battle of Trafalgar (though some have been replaced by replicates), and they've preserved both the spot where Nelson was shot and the spot where he died. It was...reverent.
The only thing I didn't like about the guided tour was it didn't leave you enough time to linger if you wanted, so I may have to come back during the seasons when they let people do their own tours. Still, it was a brilliant experience and I'm thrilled to have done it.
Last on the list for the day was the Trafalgar Sail Exhibition, featuring the only surviving sail from the Battle of Trafalgar - Victory's foretopsail, no less. A massive pock-marked piece of canvas, amazingly found in a gymnasium somewhere after it had been shoved into storage and forgotten. They've restored it as much as possible, cleaning it so it won't degrade further, and they've partially rolled it out so you can see just how massive it is. They also have a screen in there playing a short segment of Master and Commander and then some info about the sail - I could hear the music (the Tallis "Fantasia") playing as we went up the stairs and it nicely added to the whole experience.
The next day I went by myself and saw the HMS Warrior, representing the sail+steam era. Some more lovely cannons, including this pretty brass one:
Not to mention some great big ones on the gundeck:
Afterwards I went through the Royal Navy museum, where they had tons of lovely artifacts on display, including some of Lord Exmouth's belongings - the swords and medals of our very own Admiral Pellew. Very nice. Then it was next door to the Nelson musuem, where I thought I'd died and gone to geek heaven. All sorts of Nelsoniana, as they put it, including collectors pieces made in honor of him, some of the furniture he used on board the Victory, samples of his own handwriting, and even the pigtail from his hair that was given to Lady Hamilton after his death. I spent quite a lot of time in this museum.
By that time, Marie and Helen were finished with their PhD interviews, so after a quick meal we saw Helen to her train, then Marie and I headed out towards Devon. I was sorry to go, but now I can say I've been to Portsmouth, that I've been on the Victory and wandered through so many historic buildings and ships. I'm well pleased :)
More pics on my Photobucket account. Part 2 of the travelogue to come.
