National Museums Liverpool Blog - Friday, February 09, 2007

'An Idyll' by Maurice Greiffenhagen

If you haven't been in outer space you've probably noticed that Valentine's Day is fast approaching. Wherever you turn in the shops you see hearts, cupids, chocolates and completely pointless fluffy pink things that men everywhere will buy in a panic minutes before closing time on 13 February.

Being a big soppy romantic myself (well maybe not, but I have my moments) I thought it'd be nice to gather together the most loved-up objects from our collections for a romantic online exhibition. So I asked the curators for ideas and what did they suggest? An obscene novel, a tale of bigamy, a pair of boots a painting of a tiff and nasty disease carrying bugs responsible for killing and maiming people in Central America, amongst other things. Hmmm. This could take years of therapy to sort out.

I guess it's good to cater for the hardened cynics at this time of year, as their needs are so often neglected. Fret not though, we've also got some proper romance, including An Idyll, the painting that visualised the word passion, according to the author DH Lawrence.

An improved range of Valentine e-cards has also been launched on the website today, including John and Yoko's 'All You Need Is Love' bedspread from their Montreal bed-in for peace, as a treat for Beatles fans out there. And don't forget, if you're stuck for an original present there's still time to adopt an ant for your Val-ant-ine.

Curator Alan Scarth in front of the Ismay silver centrepiece

Curator Alan Scarth is about to unleash not just one but three international disasters in a national museum. If I had done that I'd probably make a dash for the airport as fast as my little legs could carry me. Luckily for Alan though, it's all in a day's work for him, which is why he looks so cheerful in this photo. You see, Alan is the curator behind the new gallery at the Merseyside Maritime Museum about a tragic trio of ships - the Titanic, Lusitania and the Forgotten Empress.

The gallery highlights the poignant stories of many of the people involved in the disasters, including new research into local connections. Many of the crew who perished in the tragedies were either from Liverpool originally, or had moved here looking for work on the ships. The Lusitania sinking for example devastated the tight-knit dockland communities in north Liverpool, where most of the crew lived.

Of course, lots of the museum's popular exhibits are also on show. Have a sneak preview at the new zoomable photo of the Titanic model on the website. 

You can see the gallery when opens to the public this weekend, on Saturday 10 February.

We’ve had a bit of a revelation here. Valentine’s Day is fast approaching. Yes – it really is February and the snow is here so warm your cockles with a dramatic loving gesture.

Before you nip off to the florists and get stung for an overpriced bunch of flowers or buy the wrong size lingerie, feast your eyes on our romantic ants.  That’s right – I said romantic. For these particular leaf cutter ants are carrying not leaves, but rose petals.

Aww ... our ants come over all slushy

In all seriousness – what could be more romantic than sponsoring an ant and declaring your love to the nation by naming it in your sweetheart’s honour. Like ‘Mrsfluffywuffywabbitkins’ or ‘Jane&John4eva’ or something. And what's more, it will get published on our website for all the world to see!

There isn’t a Valentines gift in the world as versatile as an ant – and if you’re still not convinced by the wonder of  ants then get up close and personal with our flickr pics. Go one - give in to the lurve bug. You know you want to.

PS. You need to sponsor your ant by midday on Tuesday if you want the certificate dispatched in time for Valentines day. And don't forget to email with your ant name and the posting address when you've completed the online bit!

Joiner Paul Murphy with some of the fake rivets used in the new gallery

It's all hands on deck at Merseyside Maritime Museum this week, where the finishing touches are being made to a new gallery about the sinking of a tragic trio of ships - the Titanic, Lusitania and Empress of Ireland - which opens on Saturday.

National Museums Liverpool's joiners have skillfully transformed part of the first floor of the museum for the new displays, which are framed with a dramatic jagged edge of torn metal, to give the effect of the damaged hull of a sinking ship. Paul Murphy showed me how the torn metal is actually made of wood - complete with wooden rivets.

The rivets may be fake but the displays include some genuine objects from the disasters - including a deckchair from the Lusitania and a Titanic lifejacket worn by one of the survivors. While many items will be familiar from the former Floating Palaces gallery, there is also plenty of previously unseen material on show.

Don't forget, there's still time to catch the Shipwrecked exhibition in the museum, to learn survival skills in case you ever find yourself on a sinking ship.

I was rudely awoken this morning by a nagging pain on the left side of my mouth. A rogue brazil nut (apparently encased in a jacket of steel) caused part of my tooth to break off last night. I always knew this healthy eating lark was bad news - chocolate's much safer and ice cream has certainly never led to me losing a body part. Needless to say I was feeling pretty sorry for myself on the way to work, that is until I heard about poor Nissim the elephant. Nissim, a resident at Knowsley Safari Park, suffered damage to his tusks that was so severe a top London dentist had to be drafted in to operate on him. Nissim lost a large part of his tusk trying his luck with some older female elephants (Dumbo springs to mind). As I was reading the story I couldn't help picturing the scene as some kind of elephantine Samson and Delilah, young Nissims strength ripped away from him by his ruthless mistress and as I walked past Solomon J Soloman's depiction of Samson at the top of the stairs at the Walker Art Gallery this morning I almost had to wipe the tear from my eye … or maybe it was just the effects of that darn brazil nut.

Did you know that Knowsley Safari Park was founded by the 13th Earl of Derby - whose collections formed the origins of what is now World Museum Liverpool - and there was an exhibition dedicated to him at the Walker a few years ago. 

Ship model of the Cunard liner, Carmania

This little-known story of the Great War conjures up dramatic pictures for me, Stephen Guy. The sight of two luxury liners battling it out must have been amazing.

The 19,524 ton luxury liner Carmania sank the German liner, Cap Trafalgar, earning a unique accolade in the First World War.

The historic engagement took place off the southern coast of Argentina in September 1914, shortly after the outbreak of war.

Requisitioned by the Government and converted into an armed merchant cruiser, the 675 feet long Cunarder, Carmania was one of the few ships to make good use of this role change. She intercepted Cap Trafalgar, a Hamburg-Amerika liner before the war but now also converted and armed. The two ships pounded each other with shells. Carmania was struck 79 times and her bridge caught fire but she was able to give as good as she got.

Following an hour of fierce fighting Cap Trafalgar developed a list and went to the bottom. This was the only occasion when one liner sank another in battle.

Carmania was later escorted to Gibraltar where she was repaired in dry dock. She later patrolled the coast of Portugal and the Atlantic islands before taking part in the Gallipoli campaign. In 1916 she was returned to Cunard and acted as a troopship between Liverpool and Halifax, Nova Scotia, along with her sister. After the war the two ships were used to return Canadian soldiers home.

Cunard liners Carmania and Caronia (1905) were identical apart from their engines. Carmania was powered by newly-invented steam turbines while Caronia had traditional reciprocating engines. The success of Carmania’s turbines led directly to the building of the Lusitania and Mauretania and put Britain back at the forefront of marine design.

Carmania operated between Liverpool and New York and the Mediterranean in winter. She carried 300 First Class passengers, 350 Second Class and some 200 others, mainly emigrants travelling westwards in Third Class and Steerage.  She had major refits in 1920 and 1923 before the economic depression following the 1929 Wall Street Crash made times hard for shipping companies.

Carmania had become outdated and more modern ships were around to take her place. She was withdrawn from service in 1931 and later sold for scrap.

At Merseyside Maritime Museum there is a fine 10 ft long model of Carmania (shown) with painstaking detail right down to the rigging and lifeboats.

A new Maritime Tale appears every Saturday in the Liverpool Echo.

The mason's mark H4

Museum archaeologists excavating Manchester Dock have been pleased to find the inner walls of the lock gate are in very good condition. Many of the stones not only feature the original chisel marks but also the identifying marks of the individual masons. Stonemasons would mark the stones they had dressed so their daily output could be accurately tallied and they would be paid accordingly.

Some are simple shapes (like the triangle one featured on our Flickr page). Others are a mix of letters and numbers like this example.

The internal dock gates at Manchester Dock are exposed

In yesterday's dig post we showed you the outline of Manchester Dock with its two sets of docks gates. Well yesterday archaeologists set to work uncovering those original gates which are still in situ. Most of the timbers survive, some of which are up to 0.3metres thick and hardwood, probably Greenheart (a very hardwood often used in dock construction).

More images from yesterday, including the depth marker from the dock, can be found on our Flickr page.

Sir Paul McCartney is one of a number of celebrities to have submitted dog pictures and paintings to the Alive + Well Dog Project, to be auctioned in aid of Great Ormond Street Hospital. The dogs have all been created using the same bizarre template – although they also have their own peculiarities.

According to one report, Paul’s contains ‘wings, breasts and an evil eye’. Personally I think the sketch looks remarkably like another local character –anyone else think it resembles a Liver Bird?

Other celebs that have been dabbling with the paint include Keith Allen  and Damien Hirst. The Celebrity Dog pictures can be seen until 7th Feb at The Hospital, Covent Garden. For more information visit www.thehospital.co.uk

For more on the art of Paul McCartney visit our archive exhibition web pages.

Actually, if you're not a teacher who has recently brought a class on a visit to one of our venues you can stop reading now.

Our Learning department is running a monthly draw to win free coach travel next time one of your classes visits one of our venues. To be entered all you have to do is get your class to complete a really simple and pretty fun online survey all about their visit. What's more, the feedback can be supplied to you so even if you don't win you still get to find out just how much attention they were really paying. More details here.

A bird's eye view of the footprint of the new museum on the waterfront

It's been a bit windy lately so the going has been a tad rough down at the dock. For the past two weeks archaeologists have been working hard to remove the tarmac which once covered the car park at Mann Island on the waterfront (that's the River Mersey at the top right of the image). A 62 metre high mobile access platform was then brought in to give a unique bird's eye view of the dock and its associated yards and structures. The photographs (which include this one) will be used to produce a detailed plan/drawing of the area using computer software.

From left to right this image shows:
* Manchester Dock is the large brown structure on the left. 'A' indicates the position of the two sets of lock gates.
* On either side of the dock you can see a pair of holes in the ground (marked 'B'). These are the sites of the operating mechanisms for the inner set of lock gates.
* Moving right across the site 'C' indicates the foundations of Shed 1
* 'D' shows a cobbled yard surface
* 'E' indicates the foundation of Shed 2
* On the far right, currently beneath a pile of earth, is 'F', Chester Basin.

More photographs are available on our Flickr page, and if you STILL don't know what this project is all about check out our main site.

Scale model of the Great Eastern.
Image copyright Liverpool Daily Post & Echo

The Great Eastern was the wonder of the age when she was launched in 1858 and for me, Stephen Guy, this is one of the great stories of the sea.

There had never been a ship of this length and size – an amazing 692 feet long. The immense 18,915 ton vessel was not equalled for almost 40 years.

Great Eastern was designed by the visionary engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel (1806 – 1859). The stress and strain probably killed him.

With her four towering funnels and six huge masts, Great Eastern was to be dogged by misfortune throughout her 30 years in a world not yet ready for such giants.

An incredible six times larger than any ship ever built, she was originally called Leviathan. Her launch was an epic feat, taking three months to complete after she became stuck on the slipway. Then the money ran out.

During sea trials a huge explosion sent a funnel shooting into the air like a rocket. Scalded men ran screaming from below decks – one leapt over the side and was mangled up by the paddle wheels.

People must have been wary of the vast ship because Great Eastern was nearly empty when she made her maiden voyage to New York in 1860. She never carried her full compliment of 4,000 passengers.

Great Eastern successfully laid transatlantic cables before ending her days on the River Mersey as a vast floating advertising hoarding for Lewis’s department store. There was a public exhibition on board and attractions such as trapeze artists in the rigging.

As a girl of 18, my grandmother, May Kendrick saw her many times and the extraordinary sight remained with her always. Great Eastern was scrapped at Tranmere in 1888.

Mythical stories relate how one or two skeletons were found in the double bottom. One version says they were a riveter and his apprentice, another that it was a man with a bag of gold!

There is a model of the Great Eastern at the Merseyside Maritime Museum. Also in the collection is a section of the ship’s transatlantic cable.

Relics of the Great Eastern include a meat dish decorated with a picture of the ship, a silver-plated coffee pot and a candle lantern. An ibex horn is inscribed with a view of the floating colossus.

If you've not already seen it following the link at the top of this post, you should check out this photograph of the Great Eastern, which is part of our Maritime Archive photography collection.

A new Maritime Tale appears every Saturday in the Liverpool Echo.