The Cutty Sark Review

Reviewed by Siobhan Bridgwater

I have always loved the Cutty Sark. I grew up around Greenwich and have been visiting this majestic Victorian Tea Clipper all my life. I remember haring around it like a mad thing, as far back as the 70s, when I was a small child. My father would take me, my brother and sister there to let off steam on a Sunday morning after feeding the deer and squirrels in Greenwich Park. As a young adult, I was still going to visit it and the beloved Gypsy Moth (which has sadly long gone) during my weekend jaunts to the colourful Greenwich Market. Its imposing masks tower above the nearby buildings and demand your attention. The images of the flames engulfing the main body of the vessel, during its twenty five million pound restoration in 2007, filled local residents and regular visitors with utter shock and sadness. I could not imagine a trip to Greenwich without seeing it. The decks were lost forever, but luckily half the planking, as well as all the old artefacts on board, miraculously escaped damage as they had been removed while the refurbishment work was under way. By 2012, the conservation project was finally completed, and it was reopened to the public after years of mournful trips around its still awesome, but badly damaged, frame, hopefully peaking through the hoardings as we patiently waited for its resurrection. The total expense to bring this old lady back to her former glory was enormous but today, it is better than ever and a total delight and privilege to see. Now me and my siblings all bring our sons here or arrange to meet up with friends at this beautiful landmark and stroll along the river front to enjoy visiting the glorious Naval College and wonderful Maritime museum.

But today, is a special treat. I have returned with my Dad and, as we climb on board together, decades of wonderful memories come flooding back.

The glass entrance hall is light and welcoming. As we passed the ticket office and descend the staircase, we immediately come nose to nose with the impressively engineered hull, now gleaming in its shiny new copper alloy coating. To relieve the pressure on the keel, all 963 tonnes of this ship has been lifted over three metres (10 feet) up and breathtakingly suspended, above the original dry dock floor. The sight of this beautiful beast of a vessel, cradled in an impressive steel armature and surmounted by a glass canopy, bathed in sunlight, is quite magnificent.

On this ground level, you can walk all the way beneath the original structure of this ship and read about its fascinating history on the numerous, interactive displays. Boxes are there to be opened and played with and there is a lovely short film, playing on a loop, which is worth stopping to watch. Level 1 takes you into the expansive hall of further displays within the belly of the ship until you reach the Main Deck on Level 2. Whilst staring up, in awe at the huge array of rigging, cabling and towering mask poles, we bumped into the cheery ship’s cook. Dressed in period costume, we followed him around as he sets off to deliver a tray of pea soup and pork to the Captain’s table. He is very entertaining, and effortlessly remains in character, as we tour around the various quarters and workrooms and learn all about life aboard in the rough seas. This ship was originally designed to slice through the waves and so we try to imagine what it would have been like to walk along the swaying deck, carrying heavy wooden buckets of waters or trying to sleep in the cramped, hard-boarded cabin bunk-rooms. As we climb up to the Officer’s area, the children are allowed to take the wheel at the helm as we all enjoy the stunning views over the Thames across London.

To finish off our visit, we sit and enjoy a cup of tea in the Cafe back downstairs, on the lower ground floor, staring up at the impressive hull, once more. At the far end of the Level, past the play areas and craft tables for the smaller tots, we got to see the world’s largest collection of brightly painted ship figureheads. En route, we both enjoy stopping at the telephone posts, decorated with various hats, to listen to further interesting facts and wonderful tales about the ship.

I am so enormously proud that the world’s only surviving extreme clipper is still with us in Greenwich after almost 63 years and hopefully she will remain and continue to fascinate and delight future generations of visitors for many, many decades to come.

Rating: 5/5

Tickets: Adult £13.50, Child £7 (under 5s free) – book online to save 10%.

For more information or to book tickets visit www.rmg.co.uk/cuttysark.

Cutty Sark Clipper Ship, King William Walk, Greenwich, London, SE10 9HT