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This news page is current for May and June 2009 The Early Season Easter has already been and gone, along with the early May Bank Holiday – so how were things in April? The comparison of visitor numbers with last year makes for pretty good reading, although we must remember that in 2008 Easter was back in the March and the school holidays were all a bit of a jumble. Nevertheless, the visitor figures for April this year are well up on April 2008 despite the credit crunch. Many attractions have been reporting a good Easter period, which is encouraging and perhaps bucking a perceived national trend. Certainly the concept of ‘stay local, visit local’ is having a positive effect at the moment, and there is little doubt that this year will see a greater tendency for people to take breaks, if not their main holiday as well, in the UK. The ‘visiting friends and relatives’ element is also a factor that is likely to increase trade within the sector. Our forward bookings for educational visits and the travel trade are quite encouraging and the number of wedding ceremonies being booked in the Ship are also ahead of last year. The Spring Bank Holiday week will tell us more, but in the meantime we are cautiously optimistic about the season ahead. Two good events – Too good to miss! The Friends of HMS Trincomalee are holding their Summer Fayre on board the Ship during the afternoon of Saturday 13 June when there will be stalls, games, tombola etc for visitors to enjoy as part of the normal visit. It should be great fun and hopefully will raise some good money for the Friends in their support of the Ship. Do come along if you can make it. Make a note in your diary for the weekend of 4 and 5 July for the Hartlepool dockfest 2009 event that will be taking over the area surrounding the Historic Quay. A huge tent will stage all kinds of performances of music and dance and outside there will be displays and stalls and many colourful goings-on! The event is being organised by colleagues at Hartlepool Borough Council and there will be discounted entry to Hartlepool’s Maritime Experience and the Ship over the weekend. Maintenance in the Ship Having just recovered from the massive re-rigging programme and tightening-down
the lower rigging, Les Gilfoyle and his small maintenance team are now
turning their attention to the summer jobs. Firstly, we have to keep
on top of the caulking of the Upper Deck. During the warmer weather the
decks can dry out and we find leaks after a heavy shower. To counter
this the Deck is hosed down weekly with salt water from the Graving Dock
in an attempt to keep the planking good and tight, whilst re-caulking
and stamping down any persistent leaks .
Intrepid freelance photographer, Chris Armstrong, recently had a heady hour up on the Main Mast Fighting Platform to take some unusual photographs for us. David Lilley and Bobby Monsen, our two riggers, made sure he had a harness on safely and roped him up using the ladder within the shrouds. Chris had a great time – and he took some pretty good pictures as well!
The Great Survivor – a new DVD for your collection I mentioned briefly in the last News column that we have a brand new DVD about the Ship with the title ‘HMS Trincomalee - The Great Survivor’. The programme, produced and directed by television and radio broadcaster Paul Frost, is around an hour in length and traces the chequered history of the Ship in a most entertaining and authoritative way. Archive footage and that from the restoration are part of the mix, together with contributions from Professor Andrew Lambert and others. The DVD is now available and can be ordered through the Trust for £14.99 plus £1.50 if postage and packing is required. Just give us a call with your card number and we will get a copy off to you directly. There are further improvements to the Souvenirs and Merchandise/Mail Order page on this site which now provides better imagery and details of a selection of our goods. Do support this if you can, as all profits help in the maintenance of HMS Trincomalee. Thank you. Project Appeal Having recently completed the programme of exciting new capital works, the Trust has now launched a new Project Appeal for the period through to and beyond the Tall Ships Races that will be hosted in Hartlepool in August 2010. This superb event is expected to bring a very high profile to Hartlepool and the Tees Valley, and of course HMS Trincomalee is centre-stage! We have identified four areas of development in the Project Appeal, all of which aim to contribute to the improvements for the public’s enjoyment of the Ship, whilst at the same time helping our operational finances. The four elements are: i) Conservation of the Ship The aim is to raise £450,000 to achieve this package, and there is something here for everyone! Thank you to those kind supporters who have already given a donation to the Appeal, but clearly we still have some considerable way to go. If you feel able, we would be most grateful to receive donations from everyone interested in the Ship to help get the Appeal off to a cracking start, and which would be given in the knowledge that all contributions are helping towards this important programme of improvements. Please print-off the coupon for convenience. If you would like copies of the attractive and informative Appeal leaflet to help spread the word, then do please get in touch. Thank you very much indeed. Bryn
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