National Museums Liverpool Blog - Wednesday, October 03, 2007

John Moran from the planetarium at World Museum Liverpool reminisces about Sputnik 1 and reflects on its impact. There's more on the structure of Sputnik on the New York Times' site and the NASA site is carrying a retrospective.

Replica of Sputnik. Image courtesy of NASA

The 4th October marks the 50th anniversary of the launch of Sputnik 1, the world's first artificial satellite. The importance of Sputnik cannot be overestimated. Firstly, it ignited the space race between USSR and the United States. And then when you think of how far we have come in the last 50 years - landing a man on the Moon, space probes to every planet in the solar system, space stations where people can stay in space for months at a time, and (probably more important to me and you here on Earth) satellites that enable us to phone friends and relatives on the other side of the world, global positioning satellites (GPS) that stop me getting lost on my way to work, and not forgetting the ability to watch live football and news events as they happen - this was all made possible because of the direction Sputnik fired the world into.

My first memory of Sputnik 1 was when I visited this museum as a youngster, and on seeing the replica that is on display here I remember thinking, "wow, that has actually been into space", not realising that it was only a replica. I also remember being struck by how simplistic it seemed. Now that I am older and have a better understanding on the subject, I realise that I was basically right. The Sputnik 1 satellite consists of a couple of silver zinc batteries, a ventilation fan, four antennae and two transmitters that went 'beep-beep-beep'. These 'beeps' were picked up by ham radio operators all over the world. The term "brilliantly simple, yet simply brilliant" springs to mind.

There ended up being something like 40 Sputniks altogether, but Sputnik 2 was groundbreaking too, as it was the first time a living organism was sent into space in the form of a dog named Laika, which means 'barker', (being blasted into space on nothing more than a giant firework gave poor Laika plenty of reason to bark in my opinion). As a result people named it 'Muttnik'.

So on October 4th, when you are sitting down to the football, or trying to figure out how to work that GPS on the dashboard of your car, remember this was all made possible because of the Sputnik 1 satellite. We will have a birthday card in the atrium of World Museum Liverpool to commemorate the 50th anniversary of this historic event.

John

No it's not another tragic episode of Celebrity Big Brother - I found these well-known 'personalities' side by side during my latest visit to the Magical History Tour exhibition at Merseyside Maritime Museum.

The lively 'L Factor' audio-visual display celebrates many of the sportspersons, actors, musicians and other famous faces who originate from the city of Liverpool, through film clips and a wall of fame. Pete Burns was almost unrecognisable from the footage of his eighties hey day while Cherie Blair (her Father, the actor Tony Booth was from Liverpool) stared calmly out from her photo on the surrounding wall. The wall also includes the likes of Kathy Tyson, Kim CattralI, Levi Tafari and even Cheggers!

Has Cheggers earned his place on the wall? (Image © Chegwin Media Associates)

I will admit to having a bit of a dance to the footage of Echo and the Bunnymen (much to the embarrassment of my companion). I was surprised to see the likes of Jason Isaacs – aka Lucius Malfoy from Harry Potter - on the wall of fame. I had no idea he was a scouser!

Perhaps Courtney Love should be given an honorary place on the wall, as she lived in Liverpool for a while in the eighties. She stayed with Julian Cope from Liverpool band, The Teardrop Explodes, at his flat on Devonshire Road and she was apparently very inspired by the city.

Have a look and see if you agree with the choice of famous faces in the exhibition - who else do you think deserves a place there?

The Britannia (detail, reproduction) on display in the Lifelines Gallery. Image courtesy of Liverpool Daily Post and Echo

To me, Stephen Guy, Samuel Cunard is one of the most inspirational figures in the history of the business side of seafaring. Cunard (1787 – 1865) was the founder of perhaps the best-known shipping line in the world which had small beginnings in Liverpool (more on the main site). Merseyside Maritime Museum has many exhibits linked to the Cunard line but today we focus on the Canadian entrepreneur’s first ship, the paddle steamer Britannia.

Born in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Cunard was a civil engineer who came to Britain to operate a fast mail service using steamships between the UK and America. A fine portrait bust of him can be seen on the top floor.

A huge shipping line grew from the early days of Britannia which is represented in the museum by a superb, finely-detailed model made by legendary ship modellers Bassett Lowke Ltd. Britannia was built by R Duncan & Co in Greenock in 1840 and was Cunard’s first purpose-built Atlantic liner. She was way ahead of sailing ship competition in terms of passenger accommodation and speed but there were some disadvantages to this ultra-modern mode of transport. A display panel in the museum’s Lifelines gallery shows Britannia leaving Liverpool on her maiden voyage to Halifax, Nova Scotia, and Boston, Massachusetts, on 4 July 1840.

Because she was designed for speed, passengers had to put up with some inconveniences. About half the space on board was taken up by her engines and coal bunkers. The noise and vibrations of the engines and paddle-wheels and the smoke on deck from the belching funnel were very unpleasant. However, compared with contemporary sailing ships her passenger accommodation was considered luxurious – small cabins housing 115 people on the main deck below. There was also a dining saloon.

Cows were carried on deck to ensure supplies of fresh milk. The holds could carry up to 225 tons of cargo.

A model of a First Class stateroom shows the best that early Victorian sea-travellers could experience - little more than a pokey cubby-hole but luxurious by the standards of the time. It was used by popular author Charles Dickens and his wife during a 14-day voyage on Britannia from Liverpool to Boston USA in 1842.
   
The tiny detailed model shows two narrow bunks, a bench, primitive washing facilities and a few coat hangers and no wardrobes. There is even Dickens’ minute silk top hat, overcoat, boots and duck-headed cane. Dickens wrote in his American Notes: “Nothing smaller for sleeping in was ever made than a coffin”. (You can read Dickens' American Notes on the Free Library website).

A PS Britannia wallpaper is available on our main site.

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

Hello all

So what have I been up to since my last blog post? Well, it has been pretty varied. Last Monday I did an interview for the Yorkshire Evening Post. I have to say that this could be seen as the pinnacle of a career for a Yorkshireman. The journalist was called John Woodcock, a very nice easy going character. He got very excited when I told him I was brought up in Tadcaster. For anyone that likes real ale then Tadcaster is the place to be brought up.

I have had to do a lot of media in the past few weeks, some good some not so good. It depends very much on the interviewer. Some are very easy going and friendly; others seem to think they are doing me a favour by talking to me. It is part of the job that has taken me a while to get used to but at the end of the day it is positive that I have the opportunity to raise the profile of the museum.

This coming week is a very exciting one for me as not only is it the start of Black History Month but I will get to meet the son of the greatly talented Paul Robeson - an actor, singer and lawyer who was unpopular with the American government in the 1930s as he visited the Soviet Union. On his return to the United States, he refused to sing to segregated audiences. I am pleased to say that Paul Robeson has been added to our Black Achievers Wall (remember, you can nominate your own Black achiever by sending me an email).

I'll sign off for now. By the way, I was in a good mood most of the week as we beat Swansea 2-0 but on Saturday we were cheated out of 2 points by a referee who sent off 2 players! Bitter, me, a Leeds fan... no way!

Just a few of the faces on the Black Achievers Wall in the International Slavery Museum

Black History Month starts on Monday, yet another good reason (as if you need one) to visit the International Slavery Museum. As always, there are lots of events planned across our venues, check out the Black History Month programme for further details.

To get you in the mood, here's a great rap poem that was written by ten year old Robert Thomas after he had attended the Slavery Remembrance Day events with his family

Down with Poverty, Racism and all the rest;
Stop it now 'cos you know it's best;
This is no jest.
We're all the same both black and white;
You know it's right
So don't give up without a fight!

This may look like an informal coffee break but the people around this table are actually helping to shape the future of our museums. Community consultation co-ordinator Helen Robinson has been holding a series of these meetings to tell people about plans for the new Museum of Liverpool and get them involved with some of the decisions about what will go on display there.

Helen is keen to meet up with community groups from all over Merseyside involved and is planning more consultation meetings for later this year. If you would like to get involved you can send Helen an email or ring her on 0151 478 4003.

There's another opportunity to discuss the plans for the new museum at a free Port City public forum next Wednesday, 3 October, 6-8pm at Merseyside Maritime Museum. The forum aims to address questions such as whether Liverpool is still perceived as a port city and how have the docks shaped the city. With contributions from Dr Adrian Jarvis, Professor WR Lee and Tony Lane from the University of Liverpool and Linda McDermott from BBC Radio Merseyside, this should be an interesting discussion.

The Duke of Kent chats to Sandra Penketh

Last Friday the Duke of Kent paid a visit to the Lady Lever Art Gallery. He was in Liverpool to officially open the new cruise liner terminal on the waterfront, and while here popped over the water to the Lady Lever. Here he is chatting to gallery head, Sandra Penketh.

Update 26.09.07: caught up with Sandra who told me that HRH was amazed by the size of the collection and thought it would take several days to tour properly. He was particularly interested in the Chinese displays, and the Masonic collection as he is Grand Warden of the United Grand Lodge of England (Freemasons).

Nathan Pendlebury with one of his paintings

We've mentioned before that several of our staff lead exciting creative double lives outside office hours. Take Nathan Pendlebury for example. By day he works in our photography department and by night he takes highly acclaimed photographs of his own, some of which were recently selected for the 2007 Chelsea International Fine Art Competition at the Agora Gallery in New York. He's also an abstract artist whose paintings have been widely exhibited.

Anyone wondering where he gets his artistic streak from needs to look no further than the Liverpool Academy of Arts on Seel Street, where Nathan's work is being shown until 5 October as part of a joint exhibition 'Begin' with his dad Tony. This is the first time that they have exhibited together and is a fascinating body of work. While each artist has his own distinct style, their work complements the other's beautifully, as you would expect from a pair who have worked so closely and inspired each other. There's even a painting that they worked on together.

Back in the 1950s when I, Stephen Guy, was a child, Pilot matches were sold and used everywhere as many Britons smoked like chimneys and houses were heated with open fires. The trademark on the box included a wonderful old engraving of a pilot dressed in sou’wester hat and oilskins, clutching a ship’s wheel. This was obviously from the days of sail. After more than 100 years using sailing ships, it was not until 1896 that the first steamship - the Francis Henderson - was used by Mersey pilots.

Many pilots were against the introduction of steam, believing that the manoeuvrability of sailing ships and their ability to function in heavy weather could not be matched. However, the Francis Henderson – named after the chairman of the Pilotage Committee – proved them wrong and she saw successful service until 1917. A fine model of her is in the Merseyside Maritime Museum collections.

The pilot cutter, Edmund Gardener

In 1913 an Act of Parliament laid down the framework for the modern system of pilotage, bringing all British ports into line. In Liverpool, pilotage is compulsory for all vessels over 250 tons. Certain ferries making regular visits, whose captains are familiar with the port, do not require pilots.

Until 1982, pilots stayed on board pilot boats anchored in Liverpool Bay. These could accommodate up to 40 pilots and apprentices. The last of these pilot cutters was the 701-ton Edmund Gardner, now preserved in dry dock on the Historic Quaysides - the largest ship in the Maritime Museum’s collection. Built in 1953, she was one of a new generation of diesel-electric powered vessels built to replace the pre-war steam cutters. Lovingly looked after by museum staff and volunteers, she is preserved as she appeared during her working life.

Today pilots travel to incoming vessels using high-powered launches after being alerted exactly when the ship will arrive in Liverpool Bay. The Shearwater was one of these fast pilot launches, notable because she sank in an accident in 1987. Fire broke out in her engine room and she foundered off the Mersey Bar. Her crew, having fought the blaze for 20 minutes, were picked up by another pilot launch.

Even in the days of sail, pilots sometimes could not board vessels because of atrocious weather conditions. A painting by J Witham (1831–1901) in the museum collections shows a remarkable incident that took place in February 1881. The pilot schooner, Leader, led a fleet of vessels safely over the Bar during a north-westerly gale in conditions too severe to allow pilots to board.

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

Artist Anthony Brown gives museum volunteer Charlene Ugbode a preview of his exhibition

You may have seen some of Anthony Brown's distinctive portraits already, as they have been appearing in venues all over the city as part of the 100 heads thinking as one exhibition. As the title suggests, there are 100 portraits in the collection which together form one very personal portrait of the characters who make Liverpool the city it is today. From tomorrow ten of these portraits will be on display at the Maritime Museum, including three (of George Melly, Gareth Abbott and Bill Citrine) that have not been on show before. 

Now the prospect of seeing this display, the Magical History Tour exhibition and the International Slavery Museum all in one building would surely be enough to tempt anyone down to the Albert Dock this weekend. Add to this the return of the popular Hello Sailor! exhibition, which returns tomorrow after a successful visit to Southampton, and I think you've got a winner.

It's almost enough to make the people visiting on the QE2 today want to jump ship and stay in the city for the weekend. Well, they wouldn't want to stay for the weather, would they?

Update: sorry for any confusion - I did say that there were nine heads but I can't count - there's actually ten including a last minute addition. Thanks to the ever vigilant and sharp eyed Ian Jackson for spotting that!

National Museums Liverpool staff are heading a unique independent project for 2008. Face of the City is encouraging workers in Liverpool city centre to get creative and to display their own artwork in their workplaces as part of the Capital of Culture celebrations. The idea is that we should all be showing off our talents during the Capital of Culture year, whether we've ever done anything remotely artistic or not.

The Face of the City team are looking for volunteers to become Project Coordinators - basically the person who organises the exhibition/display in your workplace, as well as people to display their work. The display doesn't have to be anything huge and amazing, a section of wall in a corridor or your office would do just fine. Check out the website for more information.

The tower of the Anglican Cathedral

Getting quite exciting now! These snaps were taken on 14 September and you can really see progress even from earlier in the month. As ever the images are on our Flickr page.

When I've labelled them I've tried to pick out the main, visible landmarks. If there's a building you're not sure about or think we should mention (no advertising please!) let me know and I'll try to identify it or add the mention - or add a comment to that image on Flickr yourself.

I am the one on the far right with one of our many famous visitors, the Reverend Jesse Jackson Photograph © Simon Webb

Hello fellow bloggers. This is my first journey into the technical superhighway that is blogging. I will try and be as interesting as I can but bear with me ok. It might take me a while to get into the swing of things. I have been asked to keep you updated about some of the things I do as part of my job as Head of the International Slavery Museum, and also as a Leeds United supporting vegan Yorkshireman. A strange mix if there ever was one!

The first Phase of the International Slavery Museum opened on 23 August 2007 – Slavery Remembrance Day here in Liverpool. It was hectic to say the least in the weeks up to opening but it was all worth while. The libation and cultural activities events which took place at Slavery Remembrance Day at Otterspool were very successful and grow year by year. Many of the people who attended the event then came down to Albert Dock to visit the museum.

We had approximately 2,000 visitors per day for the first five days and up until today we have in the region of 20,000 visits. The feedback has been very positive and although you will not always please everyone a museum in my view should not try to anyway. We want to provoke reaction, debate and dialogue. We might not have got everything right straight away but the museum is a living and breathing one and as such we can adapt to both public opinion and indeed the changing research and information around the subject of slavery.

I want to tell you though about one of the many presentations that I am asked to give these days. It was part of the BOUND conference at Tate Liverpool on Saturday 15 September. Phase 2 of the International Slavery Museum, which will be housed in the Dock traffic Office, the old Granada TV building, will contain a research and education centre, along with public spaces and exhibition space. As a museum we want to cover many aspects of slavery, not just transatlantic slavery, although that is still at the very core of what we are about. As such I wanted to meet professionals who worked in areas of contemporary slavery, such as Anti-Slavery International and Stop the Traffik . Working alongside partners like this I hope to make the International Slavery Museum an active participant in the combating of current forms of slavery. As Dr David Fleming – Director of National Museums Liverpool (the man on the left of Jesse Jackson in the photo above) has said on many occasions – museums should not, and indeed cannot, be neutral.

I’ll sign off for now.  See you next week (hopefully I’ll be in a good mood if we beat Swansea City at the weekend!).
Richard

The pilot boat, Pioneer

Whenever I, Stephen Guy, get stuck in a storm or in hazardous conditions the words of the Victorian hymn, Throw Out The Lifeline, always come to mind. My father would sing these opening words in similar circumstances. A gust of wind or the start of torrential rain would always bring a “Throw out the lifeline!” from Dad. The hymn - about dark waters, sinking ships and people drifting away – conjures up all sorts of maritime hazards.

Mersey pilots have been guiding ships safely from open seas to quaysides for 240 years from the days when Liverpool was growing rapidly into the Second City of the British Empire. Local fishermen originally acted as pilots to bring ships safely to shore, supplementing their incomes in the process. But a series of fatal accidents in 1765 prompted the formation of a committee of ship-owners and merchants to consider a more formal arrangement.

The result was the first Liverpool Pilotage Act of 1766 which led to the issuing of 50 pilot licences. At first ships were charged according to their tonnage and the distance from Liverpool but from 1797 earnings were pooled and the pilots paid the appropriate share. Captains of visiting ships were provided with the pilots’ detailed local knowledge necessary to navigate in and out of the port.

These were colourful, exciting times in Liverpool and the Merseyside Maritime Museum has a series of remarkable paintings of pilot cutters and schooners in its collections. One of the earliest was painted in 1830 by legendary marine artist Samuel Walters (1811–82) and his father Miles (1773–1855). It shows the pilot boat, Liver, off South Stack lighthouse, Anglesey. This fascinating painting has intricate detail and shows the two pilots wearing top hats and the apprentices sporting red woollen headgear.

Pilot schooner Pioneer, built in 1852, was the first schooner and rigged boat employed in the Liverpool pilot service. This fine painting (shown) is by William K McMinn (1820 –98) and shows Pioneer at the mouth of the Mersey. In an interesting detail, she is depicted towing a punt which was used to take the pilot to the next incoming vessel.

Another pilot schooner was Queen, painted by seafarer artist Charles Ogilvy (1833 – circa 1890). Very few works are known by this talented painter but he is listed in a local 1868 directory as a marine artist. Ogilvy also painted Pioneer, placing her off Point Lynas, Anglesey, where ships travelling from the west picked up pilots. Pioneer was sold in 1879 and she was later wrecked off west Africa.

More about Mersey pilots next week. In the meantime there is a Maritime Archives factsheet on the history of the Liverpool Pilot Service on our main website.

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

There have been some exciting new additions to the World Museum aquarium! Thornback and Undulate Rays have started to hatch and Rachel Ball, an Assistant Aquarist at World Museum Liverpool, sent us the good news...

The aquarium has been blessed this month with several new arrivals. The flipper-flapper (as opposed to pitter-patter) of tiny fins may be witnessed if one looks carefully into our native marine wedge tanks! Baby Thornback and Undulate Rays (or skates) have begun hatching from their large leathery egg cases after a lengthy incubation period of 6-7 months.

One of the new arrivals - a baby undulate ray

The egg capsules were laid in the native marine ‘rock pool’ exhibit in the Blue Planet Aquarium in Ellesmere Port where a successful breeding programme has been established for some time. It is fantastic that we are able to display the hatchlings here at the museum in order to raise awareness of the plight of these fascinating animals which are arguably the most vulnerable of all marine fishes. The UK is home to at least 11 species of egg-laying skates which use the shallow waters around our coast to breed and lay their eggs. They are very slow growing animals which produce relatively few young after taking over a decade to reach sexual maturity. They are thus struggling to thrive under today’s commercial fishing pressure such that the once Common Skate is now considered to be practically extinct from the Irish Sea.

We’re hoping that by successfully rearing these animals in the museum we are not only promoting captive breeding and collaboration between public aquaria but also encouraging visitors to appreciate the wealth of marine life which our coast supports and to take an active interest in its conservation. 

The Liverpool clipper

This weekend sees the start of an incredible adventure for ten intrepid sailing crews as the Clipper 07-08 round the world yacht race sets off from the Albert Dock. This challenging race will take them over 35,000 miles, visiting 14 ports in 5 continents before returning to Liverpool next July.

You can see the clippers in the Albert Dock over the next couple of days while the crews make their final preparations. I went down to check out their colourful new liveries after a visit to the Maritime Museum earlier today.

The Glasgow clipper seems to have been inspired by the Black Pearl from 'Pirates of the Caribbean' - it's looking very sleek now in black and is flying the Jolly Roger flag. I hope that they're not tempting fate and don't attract any pirates (although I may change my mind about that if they're ahead of the Liverpool clipper in the race as I will of course be supporting the home team).

You can see more photos on a Flickr slideshow of the clippers in the Albert Dock.