london docklands and city

Just across the river, London’s Docklands have regenerated into a financial and business hub. The capital’s history as a port from the time of the Romans is told through collections and galleries at the Museum of London Docklands, in a former sugar warehouse on West India Quay.

Next to Tower Bridge, the 160-year-old warehouse buildings of St Katharine Docks are now home to apartments, restaurants and shops, with the docks themselves a marina where historic sailing barges sit alongside luxury yachts.

And just upriver, HMS Belfast is the only surviving light cruiser to have seen active service during World War II. Part of the Imperial War Museum, it was saved from destruction in 1971 after serving Britain for 32 years and is staffed by volunteers, many of them veteran
crew members.

Tucked in a wharf off Southwark’s Clink Street is a replica of one of Britain’s most famous ships, the Golden Hinde. A full-size reconstruction of the Tudor galleon in which Sir Francis Drake circumnavigated the globe from 1577-1580, it offers visitors a living history experience on self-guided tours.

Downriver, Tilbury is the temporary home for the world’s oldest restored steamship, the 120-year-old SS Robin, following two year’s restoration at Great Yarmouth. It will become a museum and learning centre in London.

chatham

The Historic Dockyard Chatham is the world’s most complete example of a historic dockyard from the age of sail and played a vital role for the Royal Navy for over four centuries.

Its collection of three historic warships comprises the three-masted Victorian naval sloop HMS Gannet, built at nearby Sheerness in 1878, as well as the Royal Navy’s last operation World War II destroyer, HMS Cavalier, and HM Submarine Ocelot, the last warship built for the Royal Navy at Chatham and launched in 1962. Visitors can tour all three vessels.

Other attractions in the dockyard include a D-Day locomotive, midget submarine and Kitchener’s Railway Carriage in 3 Slip – Europe’s largest wide-span timber structure when built in 1838 – as well as 17 historic RNLI lifeboats, the Victorian Ropery with its quartermile Rope Walk, a reconstruction of a wooden warships dockyard and the Royal Dockyard Museum.

east of england

Hartlepool was a host port for the Tall Ships Races in 2010, when nearly 60 historic vessels took part. Hartlepool Maritime Experience is a recreation of an 18th century seaport, bringing to life the times of Nelson, Napoleon and the Battle of Trafalgar. It
includes a maritime museum, Britain’s oldest warship afloat, the 1817-vintage HMS Trincomalee, and a “mari-time machine” to experience life aboard a 19th century British naval frigate.

Hull Maritime Museum features ship models, a fullsize whale skeleton and displays of the whalers’ craft of scrimshaw, or whalebone carving. Lowestoft Maritime Museum’s new extension was opened in May 2010 by the Princess Royal. Exhibits include model ships and marine art.

In Essex, see traditional Thames barges moored by the sea wall at Maldon and the preserved cockle fishing village of Old Leigh, where the Pilgrims’ Mayflower picked up provisions and passengers.

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