National Museums Liverpool Blog - Tuesday, May 08, 2007

The Ellan Vannin. Image courtesy Liverpool Daily Post & Echo

The tragic story of the Ellan Vannin has fascinated me, Stephen Guy, since childhood holidays on the Isle of Man. Everyone on board the Manx ferryboat perished in a terrible storm when 24ft waves sent the sturdy vessel to the bottom as she approached Liverpool.

Ellan Vannin (Manx Gaelic for 'Isle of Man') left Ramsey on 3 December 1909 with 14 passengers, 21 crew and 60 tons of cargo including sheep, pigs and vegetables. The weather was reasonable when she set out but deteriorated as the voyage progressed. By the time she reached the Mersey Bar the wind was near hurricane strength with mountainous waves crashing into the ship.

The court of inquiry concluded that the most probable explanation for the disaster was that the 339-ton Ellan Vannin was overcome by the huge seas, although the precise cause of the tragedy remains a mystery.

When the storm abated, her masts could be seen sticking out of the sea. Divers examined the wreck and found damage to the bows. The lifeboat davits were swung out ready for lowering. The Mersey Docks and Harbour Board later blew up the wreck as it was a danger to shipping.

In the Merseyside Maritime Museum collections there is a builder’s wooden half model showing the doomed ship when she was first built in 1860 as the paddle steamer Mona’s Isle. In 1883, she was converted to twin-screw propulsion and renamed Ellan Vannin. The model reflects the view that she was a strong ship. She had put to sea in many a storm when other vessels had run for cover in Ramsey Bay.

A contemporary broadsheet carries photographs of some of the people who died in the shipwreck. Dressed in their finery or everyday clothes, they are frozen in time. They include passengers Mr and Mrs Heaton Johnson looking the personification of respectability – he is in his immaculate high-collared shirt, she in a fashionable ruffled dress. Another passenger, WE Higginbotham, appears in full Highland costume. Manxman Mark Joughin stares out of the picture with a full beard, sporting a trilby hat. Captain Teare is in smart uniform while seaman T Corkish wears a lifejacket and sou’wester. Stewardess Mrs Collister has her hair in a bun. All very different people who shared the same fate.

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

Monday is the 92nd anniversary of the sinking of the Lusitania, one of the most horrific incidents at sea during the First World War.

You can see some poignant reminders of the ship in Merseyside Maritime Museum's recently revamped gallery, Titanic, Lusitania and the Forgotten Empress, including an unusual survivor from first class - the sofa cushion pictured opposite. Able Seaman Henry Grew spotted the cushion during search and rescue operations. He got hold of it with his boat hook but it ripped when he lifted it out of the water. You can see where the tear was repaired in this photo.

Marketing Assistant Enes updates us from "On the Road"

Geir Tonnessen, hotel general manager and Ben from Childwall

The latest addition to Museum of Liverpool - On the Road  was launched this morning at the Radisson SAS hotel. The child-sized post box was specially made for the children at Fazakerley Children’s Home to post their letters and cards.

National Museums Liverpool curator Kay Docherty, hotel general manager Geir Tonnessen, and local lad Ben appeared for regional press who attended the presentation.

Update 14.05.07: Sorry, we originally spelt Mr Tonnessen's name wrong.

The themes for Museums and Galleries Month this May are 'People: Who Are We?' and 'Night of the Museum'. To combine the two, the organisers are asking for nominations of a person, featured in a UK museum or gallery, who you would bring back to life as in the 'Night at the Museum' film.

Kay Docherty, assistant curator at the Museum of Liverpool has two great suggestions, the regal Statue of Liverpool that once graced the roof of the Walker and Leasowe Man, the oldest surviving skelton from Merseyside, who was conserved at the National Conservation Centre for our former exhibition Living with the Romans.

"I would love to see the huge Allegorical Statue of Liverpool, at the National Conservation Centre, which was on top of the Walker Art Gallery from 1877 until 1993, come to life. I'd ask her about the many Liverpool events she must have witnessed from high up on the roof and what she thinks of Liverpool today? Also does she like her new home and what does she think of the copy of herself now on the roof.
 
For Leasowe Man I'd ask him what life was like in Merseyside at the time of the Romans, what his name was and what it was like to live in a Romano British round house. From analysing his skeleton archaeologists believe that he was muscular and was used to heavy labour - I'd ask him what he did."

Installation of the glass elevator - if only there was a chocolate factory to go with it

I went for a look around Sudley House earlier this week. Sudley contains the only Victorian merchant's art collection still held in its original setting and is due to re-open its grand doors on Saturday 26 May after a period of refurbishment.

In addition to housing fabulous works by Turner, Reynolds and Gainsborough Sudley now boasts a special exhibition space, dedicated learning suite and has increased accessibility thanks to a great glass elevator Willy Wonka would be proud of.

Charlie Coburn one of our gallery attendants at Sudley has been keenly documenting the improvement works. His photographs provide an interesting insight into the hard work that happens behind the scenes at NML. Check out his images on our Flickr page - the builders have certainly been busy.

With venues re-opening and the prospect of another glorious night for the reds in Europe, the penultimate week in May looks set to be an exciting one. I can't wait. 

Curator of entomology (that's 'insects' in case you don't know) Guy Knight updates us on research the team is conducting in Cumbria. More on what they discover will follow over the summer, and more snaps can be found on our Flickr page.

Earlier this year, the Entomology Biodiversity Advisory Service at World Museum Liverpool was approached by the Cumbria Wildlife Trust to carry out a survey at Smardale Gill National Nature Reserve.

Smardale Gill NNR. A Malaise trap for sampling flying insects against the impressive industrial architecture of Smardale Gill viaduct, part of the disused Darlington - Tebay railway line.

The Trust aims to provide easy access for visitors to enjoy not only the spectacular wilderness views at the Smardale but also its rich wildlife habitats which include flower-rich grassland, ancient woodland and an unspoilt river. To make sure that these habitats are properly looked after and fully appreciated it is important that the site managers have the most detailed information available on the animals and plants they support.

We worked with the Cumbria Wildlife Trust a few years ago sampling insects at three of their other reserves. This work resulted in records of over 1,500 different species, over 100 of these were rare, threatened or scarce and several hundred had never before been recorded from Cumbria. Over the next year we expect to have similar results at Smardale and are pleased to be working with the Trust again. We will be visiting the site throughout the summer months and posting photographs and updates as the survey work progresses.

Entomology’s Biodiversity Advisory Service supports people’s enjoyment of the natural environment. Work relies on a mix of existing staff, associate and volunteer identification and field survey skills and our research informs species conservation and general site management locally, nationally & internationally. It also reinforces the quality and relevance of our nationally important insect collections. In the last ten years over 40 technical reports & publications have been commissioned, over 100,000 specimens have been identified - including new species to science, Britain and Liverpool.

This painting, May Morning on Magdalen Tower by Holman Hunt, would have been really appropriate if I'd written this post a few hours ago. I suppose it's still morning in some parts of the world - I'll just pretend I'm on New York time, it sounds glamorous. A complete aside, but on the subject of odd timing I noticed that this painting was the Lady Lever Art Gallery's Picture of the Month a few years ago. In July. I'm saying nothing.

Anyway, back to the point. As you probably already know, May is Museums and Galleries Month, an annual UK-wide celebration. As always, we've got lots of free events, activities and exhibitions taking place all month, way too many to list here. I will draw your attention to one in particular though.

The Merseyside Maritime Museum is holding 'The great museums debate', asking what the purpose of modern museums actually is, on Thursday 17 May, 6-8.30pm. Chaired by journalist and broadcaster Gillian Reynolds, speakers include David Fleming of National Museums Liverpool, writer James Delingpole, David Barrie of the Art Fund and Dea Birkett of Kids in Museums.

Do you think that there should be ‘as many people as possible visiting our great museums, not just the wealthy and overseas tourists?’ (David Fleming). Or is the ‘idea of ancient vases being mauled and chipped by mobs of primary schoolchildren’ abhorrent to you? (James Delingpole). This is your chance to have your say.

The debate is free for anyone to join in but places are limited, so please call 0151 478 4402 or email events  to request your free ticket.

See the What's On listings for further details of all our events in May, including the debate.

Loyd Grossman gets to work

Today was a significant date in the story of the Museum of Liverpool. After years of planning, followed by the excavation of the site by our field archaeology unit, work has finally started on site to build the new museum.

The occasion was officially marked with a groundcutting ceremony with our chairman Loyd Grossman. If you can't wait until 2011 to see the finished building, you can find out what it will look like on our capital projects pages.

Isambard Kingdom Brunel. Image courtesy Liverpool Daily Post & Echo

Isambard Kingdom Brunel is for me, Stephen Guy, one of the world’s greatest engineers who created two remarkable ships before building the legendary Great Eastern.

The first was the 2,340-ton Great Western of 1837, the first purpose-built transatlantic steamship which more than halved the time to cross from Britain to America. Powered by sail and paddlewheels, the timber-built Great Western set new standards of travel. Her first journey to New York took just 15 days, with 14 days to return. This was a great success as a one-way trip under sail took more than a month. The 236-ft long Great Western sailed initially from Bristol but later switched to Liverpool. She was for several years the most popular and successful Atlantic steamer, making a total of 74 crossings to New York. 

There is a detailed model of the Great Western in the Merseyside Maritime Museum. She has one funnel and four masts plus an unusual circular poop deck at the stern.

Great Western was later bought by the Royal Mail Steam Packet Company for service on the Southampton – West Indies mail run. She ended her days as a troop carrier in the Crimean War before being broken up on the Thames in 1857.

A more worthy fate awaited Brunel’s next vessel, the 3,676-ton SS Great Britain – the first modern ship because of many innovative features. This time she was built from iron and was the first propeller-powered ship to cross the Atlantic. Great Britain – also featured in the museum’s model collection - was a tremendously strong ship. On an early voyage the 322 ft long vessel was beached off the southern coat of Ireland for nearly a year. She showed no sign of serious structural damage.

This was another very successful ship, staying in service for 30 years. She sailed with emigrants from Liverpool to Australia for more than 20 years and San Francisco was another destination. Great Britain also served as a troopship.

Towards the end of her career she had her engines removed and operated as a sailing ship.  She was badly damaged in a storm off Cape Horn – a notorious ships’ graveyard – in 1886. However, she managed to make her way to the Falkland  Islands. For more than 100 years Great Britain lay in Sparrow Cove, Port Stanley, in a remarkable state of preservation. She was salvaged by a group of enthusiasts and towed back to Bristol in 1970 where she remains a big visitor attraction.

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

I popped into St George's Hall this lunchtime to check out their recent major refurbishment. It's looking good, but I'll have to go back as I didn't have enough time to go round it all, there's just so much to see now. Being able to go up to the balcony overlooking the main hall was quite a treat, especially as it gives such a good view of the famous Minton tiled floor, which I haven't seen uncovered since I was a student.

Part of the reason I didn't have much time to look round was that I spent so long enthralled by the latest painting by the fabulous Singh Twins in the entrance foyer. It's a modern interpretation of the city's coat of arms, which was unveiled as part of St George's Hall's opening celebrations this week. The minutely detailed artwork is packed full of local landmarks in the sisters' colourful signature style, inspired by traditional Indian miniature painting. I spotted the Piermaster's House at the side of the the Albert Dock, and am sure that I recognised the tiny exhibition banners on the Walker Art Gallery - they look like A Passion for Fashion and George Stubbs: A Celebration. It looks as if the twins were too modest to paint the gallery with the banner for their own exhibition, Past Modern, which was held there the year before last.

If you don't make it round this weekend (which is your last chance before the tiled floor is covered up again) there are some great photos including 360 degree panoramic shots in the BBC website's feature on St George's Hall.