A LITTLE PIECE OF HISTORY
I was sad to hear that one of Englands famous sight seeing exhibits The Cutty Sark has caught fire. I am sure many visitors to our country have visited this impressive ship as Mick and I did a few years ago.........I understand that some of the timbers were not on site as preservation work was being carried out on them; I hope that she can be saved and reconstructed.
She was launched at Dumbarton on the River Clyde, Scotland, in 1869. The name comes from Robert Burns' poem, Tam O'Shanter; Tam meets a group of witches, most of whom are ugly, but for Nannie, who is young and beautiful and is described as wearing only a "cutty sark", i.e., a short chemise or shirt. The ship's figurehead is a representation of this witch.
• She is the world’s sole surviving extreme clipper, a type of vessel that was the highest development of the fast commercial sailing ship, with the majority of her hull fabric surviving from her original construction.
• She is internationally appreciated for her beauty and is one of the most famous ships in the world.
•Her fine lines – a considerable part of her appeal – are defined by her frames which form part of the vessel’s composite construction; a construction technique of which she is the best surviving example and of which she is of exceptional quality.
•She has captured the imagination of millions of people whohave come on board to learn the stories she has to tell.
•She is a gateway to the World Heritage Site at Greenwich and is a key asset to both the World Heritage Site and the Borough of Greenwich.
•As a tea clipper, she is tangible evidence of the importance of tea in 19th century trade and cultural life.
3 comments:
Greenwich was myself and Damian's favourite place in London. We would take the boat from Embankment to the Cutty Sark and spend hours just wandering around. I have many, many happy memories of trips up to the Observatory and the stunning views their are across London from the park.
One of the last things Damian and I did together was travel to Greenwich in the middle of the night to watch a planet I can't remember the name of eclipse the sun. We were there around 4am and stayed the whole day. After the eclipse we just laidout in the sun and watched the world go by. This was the last time I saw Damian outside of hospital :o(
I have read the news this morning and they say 50% of the ship has been damaged...but it could have been worse....thats all it really said! Hope they manage to rebuild rather than just give up on it as it really is an amazing thing to say!
{{{HUGS}}} xx
Good post Ruth. I was sad to hear about the Cutty Sark too. Hope they manage to rebuild it. I always thought it was a magnificent ship.
So sad! My husband and I visited the Cutty Sark on one of our trips to England. He e-mailed me this morning to ask if I'd heard about what happened so I was just reading an article about it on line. They are thinking the fire is suspicious, and that makes me so furious, that someone might do something like that on purpsoe. What a shame! At least some of the artifacts weren't on board...
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