# Beautiful Old Lady of Greenwich....



## WereBo (Apr 5, 2008)

It was a lovely sunny and warm (14C) day today, so I took myself to Greenwich to see how the '*Cutty Sark*' is looking. After a major fire a few years ago, they've now got the masts and spars fitted, along with the essential rigging.

In a wonderful bit of engineering, they've lifted the entire ship 3 metres off the ground so the public will be able to stand underneath the keel, when it's finally declared open in April (fingers crossed). They've also surrounded the ship with a glass shell to keep the rain off the visitors, the glass is built up to the water-level, so she'll appear to be sailing on a sea-of-glass.

There was a fascinating documentary on TV, a few weeks ago, about her history and present rebuilding and renovation, all the gilt trimmings at the stern and bow is 24-ct gold-leaf. As can be seen, there's still lots of work to be done, but the ship is instantly recognisable now.















































One of my very earliest coherent memories is mum & dad taking me to see the ship when it 1st arrived in Greenwich and brought into it's final dock, back in '54. It opened to the public later on and there were steps down the side of the dry-dock, so the public could actually walk around underneath the hull. She's certainly an impressive and beautiful lady, I'm really looking forward to seeing her when all the work is finally finished :grin:


----------



## Old Rich (May 31, 2007)

Wow . . I last saw her in the 70's and she was in need of attention then . . looks much better! !


----------



## DonaldG (Aug 23, 2007)

Wow - well captured photos WB. The camera is working well and so is your 'eye'.

Doesn't she look good after that terrible fire. I haven't seen the old girl since the late '90s. Thanks for posting them. A true British heritage monument.


----------



## zuluclayman (Dec 16, 2005)

I would love to see her - ah well one day....
her's is a shared heritage with us Down Under Donald - she did the wool trade for many years and "She recovered her reputation under Captain Richard Woodget, winning the wool race 10 years out of 10. She posted Australia-to-Britain times of as little as 67 days, and in one instance outsailed the fastest steamship there was then, RMS Britannia. Her best run, 360 nmi (670 km) in 24 hours (an average 15 kn (28 km/h)), was said to have been the fastest of any ship of her size."


----------



## DonaldG (Aug 23, 2007)

Thanks for the info, ZCM. I was not aware of the full history.


----------



## WereBo (Apr 5, 2008)

As you can see in the 1st photo, access is very limited to to the narrow path around the ship, it's mostly an access-route to the 'Greenwich Foot-tunnel' under the Thames. The hardest part was trying to lose the wire mesh, either by standing on walls to get above it, shooting through the mesh or losing it in the foreground 'blur'.

I did have a good chuckle to myself while overhearing a couple of young tourists talking about the ship, a young man was explaining to his girl-friend that all the ropes are only necessary to hold the masts straight until the glue sets.... :grin:





























Sadly, I wasn't able to shoot through the mesh for this shot of the rudder showing the depth-marks, but I think the wire adds to the photo, as a building-site...











Finally, how she looks from a distance, the domed building behind her is the old 'Royal Naval College', now sold off to the University of Greenwich.


----------



## DonaldG (Aug 23, 2007)

A very nice graphical story. My wife & I used to take a party (10) of adults with learning difficulty to London for a weeks holiday each year. One of the major trips out was parking the mini-bus at Charring Cross Pier, taking a boat trip along the River Thames to Greenwich. We always had a picnic at by the Cutty Sark (there are very essential public loos nearby :wink. Then on to Greenwich market and on to the Observatory and Museum. Seeing Admiral Lord Nelson's tunic and blood stained shirt brings home the reality of the famous battle.

Thanks WB for re-lighting some happy memories that were dimming with age.


----------



## DonaldG (Aug 23, 2007)

BTW: I love the silhouette of the mast against the sky.


----------



## zuluclayman (Dec 16, 2005)

yes - some very nice images there Werebo and a bit of a trip down memory lane - not for having seen her but having learned about her at school and since - apart from The Bounty, Endeavour and other obvious ones the name Cutty Sark always brings a quick mental picture of the times of sail to my mind - the wool clippers were famous for their quick runs to land the first of the Australian wool for the season in London.
In Australia we refer to the early to mid years of the colony's economy as "riding on the sheep's back" - shows how important these wool clippers were to our infant economy


----------



## WereBo (Apr 5, 2008)

Thanks for the comments folks, and to Zulu for the potted history that's just encouraged me to read the history of the ship (*Link*, if interested :wink

Meanwhile, a couple more mast-silhouettes :grin:


----------



## sjb007 (Dec 10, 2007)

Some great photo's there Bo'. One ship Ide love to stop at and look around.


----------



## zuluclayman (Dec 16, 2005)

love the first of the two silhouettes there WereBo


----------



## Acuta73 (Mar 17, 2008)

My Great Grandfather was a Norwegian sea captain (born in 1898). He built a number of scale model tall ships as a hobby while at sea, including the Cutty Sark. Built from the keel up exactly as she was built in real life. 

My Grandfather currently owns the model....I'm going to email him a link to this thread, he will be tickled!


----------



## WereBo (Apr 5, 2008)

Hehehehehehe... I hope your Grandfather enjoys the pics :grin:

One really sad thing now, is that 'The Powers That Be' built a huge great bridge (Dartford Crossing) across the Thames, some miles downstream from here. It's great for the traffic etc. but it's put paid to the annual 'Tall Ships Race' that used to start from London Bridge, a few miles upstream from me. It was a truly beautiful sight, watching all those sailing-ships sailing past.

One thing I'm seriously keeping my fingers crossed for, is a plan to convert an old wharf/warehouse area at the end of my road back to a shipyard. It was originally the 'Royal Naval Dockyards', centuries ago, and One of their plans is to rebuild the *HMS Lenox*, a 70-gun Ship-of-the-Line - (More info *here*)

Now that would be a sight well worth seeing, and happening approx 200 yards away from me - I'd be there daily with my camera, recording the development :grin:


----------



## Done_Fishin (Oct 10, 2006)

great pics and narration from all .. I don't think I ever got to see her .. the closest I ever got to anything like this was a smaller boat somewhere close to the city .. was it the Golden Hind .. I don't remember .. I just remember coming across it a few times whilst walking around the London Bridge area or close to .. may even have been near Westminster .. such a long time ago now and never even got to go inside .. just pass by ..


----------



## WereBo (Apr 5, 2008)

Ooooohh thanks DF, I just got a new 'project' for when it's warmer







- The 'Golden Hinde' is a replica of the original ship, used by Sir Francis Drake - *Link*.

Co-incidentally, the original was built at the old Naval dockyards, which were at the end of my street :laugh:


----------



## Done_Fishin (Oct 10, 2006)

:smile: always glad to be of help .. and thanks for the link ..might get over for long enough sometime to go visiting both sites myself :wave:


----------



## WereBo (Apr 5, 2008)

If you have GoogleEarth installed, try looking around the junction of 'Clink Street' and 'Cathedral Street', in London, at street-level :wink:


----------



## WereBo (Apr 5, 2008)

*Update*

Whilst I was in Greenwich t'other day, waiting for the pageant-boats to arrive, I managed to grab a few shots of the Cutty Sark now it's finished. It shows the glass-covered visitors centre (access to underneath the ship) and is designed to represent the water if it was afloat - Please ignore the blurry blobs on some shots, raindrops on the lens...... :grin:


The domed building to the left is the access to the foot-tunnel under the Thames....


----------

