The New Nelson Gallery - The National Maritime Museum

Last week I spent an afternoon visiting my grandmother, who lives in the beautiful and historic part of London that is Greenwich. Whilst there we went to see the new permanent gallery, at the National Maritime Museum, celebrating all things Admiral Nelson. 

I took a few photos, but most of the artefacts are displayed in glass cabinets making clear photo taking a bit difficult! 

Nelson's writing slope

Nelson's uniform - the coat he was wearing when he was shot at Trafalgar (you can see the bullet hole on his left shoulder).

Nelson's knife/fork - designed for him after he lost his right arm.

A few examples of officers uniforms:

A needle case c. 1805 - made and owned by one of the sailors or officers on board HMS Victory

It still contains original needles and pins!!

A close up of a painting in the gallery. I loved the pink gown so of course only took a photo of it and not the rest of the painting! :)  And I failed to take down any details about the painting!!

There were so many more fascinating artefacts to see but I ran out of time to take photos of them all. I would definitely recommend a visit if you find yourself anywhere near Greenwich.

Victorian Spring Ball

A few weekends ago (time just disappears, and I can't recall with complete accuracy which day it was!! ), my 19th century dance group had its annual Victorian ball. This year it was held in a new venue. A Victorian theatre in Hampton Wick. 

The theatre was part of a larger building which is the Langdon Down Centre (formerly known as Normansfield) which is owned and managed by the Down's Syndrome Association. The centre was built and started by Dr. John Langdon Down in the late 19th century. The centre's website says "Dr John Langdon Down was a Victorian physician who established Normansfield in 1868 as a family home and a place where people with learning disabilities could be cared for and educated at a time when most of them would have been condemned to life in an asylum." 

Part of the building is also a museum dedicated to Langdon Down, his family and his work. 

Part of the Front of the building. It was so wide that I couldn't fit the entire building in one photo (the only way I could have done it was if I removed the fence surrounding the site and took the photo whilst standing in the middle of the road, which is just opposite the building!) 

Another view

I didn't end up taking that many photos, mainly because a friend took quite a few and also because I only had my mobile and the camera on it is not great.

Anyway, the victorian theatre where the ball was held.

close up of the side of the stage

Dancing

More dancing

Me standing on the steps up to the stage. I kept taking my gloves off as it was rather hot!!

After a bit of lovely dancing, we stopped for supper, which was held in the basement. And what should we find there... 

two amazing handcrafted models of ships!! They were made by a man called James Henry Pullen (in the mid to late 19th century), who was a patient at the Earlswood asylum where Langdon Down previously worked. Pullen was described as an 'idiot savant', which according to the Langdon Down website was how the Victorians described someone who they believed was " mentally retarded but has special talent in one narrow field ". The website goes onto say  'we now know, in fact, that he was intelligent but suffered from a severe communication disorder and high frequency deafness.'  

From what I could see, Pullen was a genius. The boats are amazing, such minute detail. Just incredible!! The above photo is a model of Isambard Kingdom Brunel's The Great Eastern.

This is a model of The Princess Alexandra 

A side view of the P.A.

After supper we went back up to the theatre for some more dancing and to take a few silly photos. :)

This was taken from the stage.

All the scenery from a past production of 'Ruddygore' was still on the stage. Perfect for posing. :)

Me walking through a lovely wood. :)

Peering through a door into a grand room (if you ignore the gap between the door frame and the green wall/pillar!)

And last but not least, Victorian air conditioning. Apparently the round thing attached to the ceiling used to suck out all the warm air as it rose to the ceiling, and blow in fresh air!!

I will ask my friend for her photos, which are much better, and include a few lovely group photos. So there might be a second post full of just photos. :).

Rose's Boarding Suit

I'm not sure what I think of the Titanic memorial cruise - part of me feels it is a nice way to remember the people who were aboard the Titanic, and part of me feels that it is rather strange. Anyway, whether or not the cruise is a good thing, BBC news showed a video clip of some of the passengers boarding the Balmoral, and I was quite impressed with a few of their costumes. Rose's boarding suit, from the 90s film, definitely seems to have been the inspiration behind many of the passengers' outfits. :)

Here is the link to the video clip http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-17656818

Ships and Ranting

I apologise in advance as there will be ranting...

Ok so most of you know that my interests rather centre around history especially eighteenth and nineteenth century. But do any of you have an interest or a hobby that is completely different from all your other interests?  I do and mine is a weird obsession with ships and the Navy. The Navy has a long and illustrious history but it is the modern Navy and modern ships that for some reason grabs my attention, an interest which seems so odd when you line it up next to all my others (Jane Austen, period dramas, historical costume and architecture, P. G. Wodehouse, crosstich etc.) I suppose it is in my blood - my family does have quite a strong connection. A great grandfather, a grandmother and grandfather, and a great aunt and uncle were all in the Navy, my father was in it for 12 years, and my brother is currently serving. I suppose the interest started when my brother joined and all my father could talk about was 'the good old days in the Navy'. The Navy was the main topic in the house for months, so a learnt loads!! This interest in all things nautical meant that when I stumbled across the Australian tv drama 'Sea Patrol', I was so excited and I lapped up the first series. It is a drama series about a group of Royal Australian Navy sailors who serve on board a patrol ship. I really enjoyed the five seasons that it ran for - apart from odd times when there was just a bit too much violence for my liking, and when main characters didn't feature in the next season and there was no explanation as to their disappearance. But overall I thought the series was pretty good. That was until today when I watched the final ever episode (it has been cancelled due to high costs - the company rents a ship from the navy to film it!!). All I can say is that is was quite awful, and really annoying. I sat in front of my computer for about 5 minutes after it ended saying 'what on earth???' over and over again. It could have been soo much better. I am thoroughly disappointed :(. But feel much better now that I have ranted to my hearts content. :)