Showing posts with label ships. Show all posts
Showing posts with label ships. Show all posts

Tuesday 28 December 2010

A Few Winter Photos...

Here are a couple of photos from my recent trip to Yorkshire. These were taken on Monday (27th) after a lovely dinner at Nont Sarah's (just on the right edge of the first photo) then we drove a short way to one of the parking areas on the Marsden Moor Heritage Trail-Buckstones. I took a quick snap of the ridge line despite my hair being blown all over my face and my fingers turning icy without my gloves on...

From Nont's there are spectacular views over to Scammonden Water and Halifax in the far distance, which can actually be seen from the restaurant's dining area. It's 1155 feet above sea level so you'll realise how cold it was up there with all the snow around. In fact while we were eating our lunch there was a light snow flurry.

Considering how far away from the sea the building is, it does actually have some nautical connections. The maple wood panelling that surrounds the front of the bar area came from a stateroom on the trans-Atlantic liner, Mauritania after it was scrapped.

This place has provided lots of memories for me as I first went there with my (then) boyfriend (now my husband).

road,pub sign,snow,hotel,moors,slush
                                                                           Looking toward the Moors...

No matter the time, distant past or present, you wouldn't want to travel across these moors in bad weather.

I was grateful I could go back to a warm hotel room eventually.

snow,moors,ice,grassland,Winter,hillside
Snow Everywhere...

Monday 15 November 2010

Learning the Ropes...The Ropery

window sill,thick rope


When we start learning the skills we need to improve our writing you could say we're learning the ropes. But that is also the term for anyone learning about the ropes on a ship or making rope.

So to my visit to The Ropery at the Chatham Historic Dockyard...

It's very popular so you need to get your tickets for the free timed guided tour when you pay for your entry to the dockyard- it's worth every penny.

Admiral Nelson's ship Victory couldn't have run without the miles and miles of rope that were used for the rigging, the sails and even the anchor- three different sizes for the different uses.

I have to admit that I didn't take notes of the names (yes, bad girl for not writing it down I know ) as I was trying to keep hold of one of my children and I was enjoying the commentary by the lady guide who was entertaining us as we went along.
The Ropery is shown to visitors set in 1875, when mechanical spinning machines were used and women were working and had their own entrance door- so they didn't mix with the men...

Entrance to Spinning Room-Women Only

The fun began when a few of the visitors were chosen to make rope. The yarns were fixed and had to be twisted- you don't need a bad back for this- then they are combined together and with the addition of a cone shaped  device and more turning you eventually get a length of thin rope. The victims- I mean volunteers- received a section of rope they had worked hard to produce, but we could all imagine how physically exhausting the rope production was, even though we'd only seen a small piece produced.

yarns,machinery,making rope

We finally moved into the Ropewalk and looked down the length of the building, it was a long long distance and they must have been very fit...

Down the Ropewalk

Here's some of the machinery. It is still working making rope.

machinery,ropemaking

Well I'm just glad I don't have to go up and down the building all day.

If you get the chance to visit  you will certainly learn about history and the part  The Ropery played in  the shipping history of this country...

Monday 1 November 2010

The Historic Dockyard Chatham and avoiding submarines...

I'll leave avoiding the big submarine to last...

It was a cold, but bright, Monday morning and I had a bag of supplies to keep me and the family fuelled as we went round the vast site.

It's not hard to stand and imagine the hustle and bustle that would have taken place there, every day, since the late 1500's.

If a ship was made of wood and sailed into battle then it probably came from the Chatham Dockyards.

In the dock where Nelson's 'Victory' once stood there is now a WWII destroyer called the HMS Cavalier (1944) which you can go onto to look around. Space is very cramped, upper walkways are narrow (not being slim, at one point I had to sidestep along one of these to get to the next set of steps down. Okay I didn't like the steep drop down the side of the ship I could see, so facing the bulkhead was reassuring...)

Going up and down stairs visitors are advised to turn round and go down backwards- it is easier, but there were occasions when fellow visitors needed to help one another by passing bags up or down hatchways- handbags got through okay but picnic laden bags made climbing difficult. Thick coats were also a disadvantage...

As I'm not great with heights (if I can see straight down) I left my family happily exploring and took myself (and our supplies) off the ship and sat on a nearby bench while my legs went from wobbly jelly to normal...

My favourite had to be the elegant HMS Gannet (1878) a Victorian steamer that started life policing the various sea areas of the British Empire. It has been beautifully restored and is licenced for the performance of marriges- a great venue for a wedding...

Stepping aboard I could imagine walking along the deck in a big dress, a shawl and bonnet as in Victorian days- admitedly the decks were fairly clear when they wouldn't have been in those times... It was solid and reassuring, despite one my son's pointing out that if it had been hit by a missile there would have been lots of splintered wood flying around to kill you!

This is HMS Gannet in all her glory...
HMS Gannet (1878)


Now the submarine- it was huge and black. It was just too long to be able to get it in a photo.
HM Submarine Ocelot (1962) is certainly imtimidating to look at, it was the last warship built at Chatham for the Royal Navy. It's an 'O' class diesal-electric submarine and stayed in service until 1981.

You can look round it, but you have to go on timed tours (by ticket). You also need to be fairly mobile to move through the sections- you receive instructions on how to do this. But the diagram on the entry building with a circle showing the diameter of hatches helped decide me to stay up top.

You can see some official pictures here

I did walk down the steps into the dry dock where it is berthed and walked underneath and up the steps on the other side. Even that brief contact was impressive.

For anyone interested in lifeboats there is also the RNLI Historic Lifeboat Collection, it  features fifteen lifeboats from early pulling versions and sailboats to motor lifeboats from the 20th century and beyond.

I'll leave the Ropery for another day, but if you want to find out more and have a look at their photogallery, you will find lots of information here

There is so much to see and do while you are at the Historic Dockyard Chatham and it really is worth the visit if you are ever in the Medway valley...