Clippers and Figureheads

[anteros_lmc]

A couple AoS news items...

City of Adelaide

The City of Adelaide, is the worlds oldest surviving clipper ship and for years her hulk has sat in a sorry state on a slipway in Irvine just south fo Glasgow. She was built in 1864 in Sunderland and between 1864 and 1887 carried many immigrants from the UK to the new world of Australia. From 1923 to 1948 she was commissioned by the Royal Navy as HMS Carrick, before she retired to the Clyde where she became a well known landmark. The Scottish Maritime Museum assumed ownership of the ship in 1989 however they lacked the funds to restore her and the City of Adelaide has sat decaying on the slipway ever since as various public and private bodies have argued over her fate. Eventually in 2010 the Scottish Government approved a plan to transport the ship to Australia where she would be restored as the centerpiece of Port Adelaide's maritime heritage centre. A team of engineers has now arrived from Australia with a specially constructed cradle to transport the ship back to Adelaide, however several bodies have raised concerns about the decision to allow a vessel of the UK's National Historic Fleet to permanently leave the country and the chairman of the Sunderland City of Adelaide Recovery Foundation is currently squatting aboard the vessel to protest against her removal.

    

You can read more about the ongoing wrangling around the the City of Adelaide's fate here:

BBC: Concerns over future of historic City of Adelaide ship
Guardian: Clipper ship City of Adelaide finds berth in Australia

Historic Figureheads at the Cutty Sark

The world's largest collection of historic ships figureheads is being restored and will be displayed in a new gallery under the keel of the Cutty Sark when she re-opens in April. The figureheads, most of which belonged to merchant ships include:

buxom, red-cheeked blonde or brunette women ... soldiers, sailors, politicians including Pitt, Gladstone and Disraeli, and a splendidly carved little dog from a ship called Sirius.

According to the Guardian, the figureheads were collected by:

Sydney Cumbers, known as Long John Silver after he took to wearing an eyepatch to cover an eye lost in a childhood accident. His house and museum in Gravesend, Kent, was named The Look-Out and his wife – the Mate – is said to have groaned whenever he came back from an expedition with an empty car, because she knew he had bought something so big it was following by lorry.

Still, at least "the Mate" didn't have to contend with her errant husband bringing tigers home from sea. To say nothing of baboons and oriental quadrupeds!

Guardian: Cutty Sark reopens with gallery of 'Long John Silver' figureheads
Kent Today and Yesterday Blog: Long John Silver Cumbers
British Pathé: The Look Out 1951

Comments

[esteven]

I would rather see her transported to Australia where she will be restored and become the center of admiration (or so it sounds) than see her argued about for days on end until she has finally rotted to pieces.

[anteros-lmc.livejournal.com]

Absolutely. I think we have to be pragmatic about who is best placed with the funding and expertise to restore her. Old ships need a lot of love and a lot of money!

[esteven]

*shakes head at officials*

OT: Have sent catalogue

[lady-branwyn.livejournal.com]

I don't understand--no one in Britain apparently has the means to maintain the ship, and it will just fall to pieces if it stays there.
But now I shall insist that Lord Branwyn refer to me as "the mate," lol...

[anteros-lmc.livejournal.com]

I can understand why the Sunderland Foundation want to keep her in the UK but tbh if the Australian's are the ones with the resources to save her then she's surely better down under. It's a tragedy that she's been sitting there decaying for the last decade.

I shall insist that Lord Branwyn refer to me as "the mate,"
Make sure that's The Mate, capital T, capital M :D