Cutty Sark - Restoration

[Guest]

I just spent a lovely but slightly rainy day in Greenwich and popped in to the Maritime Museum - now happily free admission and always worth a look if you are in that part of london. On the way to Greenwich Pier for a boat to the tower of london - I had a look for the Cutty Sark and was greeted by a boarded in site!

I didn't realise the poor old ship was in such a bad way - obviously the keel has gone or something and the masts gone due to it becoming unsafe! It's sad to see it that way - I just hope the funds are all in place for it's speedy recovery!

Last time I was there I saw they were selling chunks of it's keel as a means of generating revenue but I wasn't aware of how bad it was!

A sad sight though! It'd be a travesty to see it go!

Get well soon Cutty Sark!

[Guest]

Hi Alan

Im told its the iron frame thats the big problem it would seem that its corroding very badly. Last year(?) a stern section was sealed off and floded with chemicals to try to prevent the damage. I dont know if it worked or if this is whats being done now. The keel and keelson are wood as are the hul planks those i imagine would still be a problem to replace but not impossible.

The lower masts are not wood but iron tubes so maybe the same problem is in them as well.

I hop thye save her. another clipper up north has just gone to scrap for basicaly the same problem so lets kep our fingers crossed.

Funding! I doubt an old tea clipper will take pride of place over some of the things this country gives money too. But i wont rant on that one id offend a lot of people.

kevin

[Guest]

I'm sure you've all seen the pictures on the news of the cutty sark fire.

So much for restoring her! If she was in a sorry state before she's a darn bit worse now! Apparently a lot of the beams are just scorched and not burnt through but even so.

I was just looking online regarding the John H Amos paddle tug that was laid up in chatham and looking in a very sorry state. I was looking to see if there had been any progress on her restoration. It's been awaiting restoration since 1976 last time I saw the tug it was sunk on the currently waiting to be lifted onto a floating pontoon for repairs to be carried out:

http://www.johnhamos.org/

In looking for this site I found a site which mentioned how the Paddle Tug Reliant that was on display in the National Maritime Museum was removed from their display and scrapped in 2001!

http://www.pskc.freeserve.co.uk/Reliant.htm

It really is a disgrace how we can't protect our heritage and even the national maritime museum is selling off it's exhibits for scrap!

[Guest]

Quote "Funding! I doubt an old tea clipper will take pride of place over some of the things this country gives money too. But i wont rant on that one id offend a lot of people. "

kevin

In response to your statement, I'm with you 100%, I myself can see this being dragged on about saving her in a "Can we Can't we?" type way, only to find that at the end of a very long fund raising campian that a small detail has been overlooked and she is being sold for scrap to someone who has allready brought her. The money raised however will be spent on somthing really great, Not.

But I sincerly hope I'm wrong, as like you i firmly belive in keeping our heritage.

Cheers Jay

[Guest]

It's obviously going to cost a hell of a lot more than the £25 million originally budgeted for! At least the Cutty Sark will have a roof over it and it's in dry dock whilst they debate about it's fate over the next decade or so!

I was reading about the paddle tug that was just sold as scrap by the Maritime Museum, the logic is really bizarre, because the tug was removed from the exhibition it was put into storage at the cost of £200,000 per year and used up 1000m2 of storage space, the museum would save a lot of money just by scrapping it instead...RESULT!

I also like the term dispersal as apposed to disposal, when the item is scrapped the parts (gascut chunks) are actually "dispersed" which sounds friendlier as if they will be stored for posterity at local scrap metal yards.

It's a bit like the British Museum putting one of their egyptian mummies into a Big Yellow Store and then looking at the bill after a few years and then saying we'd save £450 quid a year if we just let the bin men take it!! Why not just keep the thing in the museum, now the Maritime museum has spent a pile of cash tarting up the hall and now has a funky looking trendy modern space without any unsightly things that people might actually want to see - like irreplaceable historical artefacts and exhibits!

A press release from the museum dated 30th November 2004 explains:

An example of reform in action is the disposal of the steam paddle tug Reliant, which had been removed from display in 1996. Early in the reform programme, in 2001, the Museum established that such a large object could not be displayed intact and was too costly to preserve and store. The Museum retained some iconic items, including one of Reliant’s engines, which is on show as working exhibit. The remaining parts of the vessel were made available under the dispersal/disposal plans. Various bodies were contacted, including other museums, the lead professional body (the Museums Association), the Maritime Curators Group and DCMS. Several institutions agreed to take parts of the tug, while her other engine is now located at Markham Grange Museum near Doncaster. The remaining sections were disposed of after the Museum had made all reasonable efforts to find them an alternative home within the maritime community. This action released just under 1000m² of storage space, saving more than £200,000 per year.

[Guest]

This is still me ranting I'm afraid!

Here's a pic of the old National Maritime Museum - look full of interesting stuff as far as the eye can see:



Now here's a pic of the Museum after spending £20 million



It's good bye education and hello "info-tainment" not an artefact or exhibit in sight but instead a Shopping Centre inspired glass roof and a big irrelevant weird glass thing! Hoorah!