A day with National Historic Ships

Rob White, of Maritime Films UK, recording the Westmoreland.

Whilst a best set course can go adrift, unexpected encounters come along too. That could be the motto for the early months of the Raybel project. One of the most pleasing surprises we've had was the opportunity that suddenly came up to assist National Historic Ships in their important work to conserve our threatened maritime heritage.

This started when Emerald Laing of NHS-UK noticed, through one of our social media feeds, that we were taking ownership of a dry dock with remains of the historic Kent brick barge Westmoreland still within (see previous blogs).What we didn't see, but Emerald did, was that here was a rare chance to record a live case study, demonstrating how to put into practice new  guidelines that National Historic Ships' had been developing on recording and deconstructing historic vessels.

As Emerald explains, "We recently updated the guidelines, which were first published in 2007 by the Advisory Committee on National Historic Ships, and are there to help specialists and non-specialists alike to understand a historic vessel and determine how best to create an enduring record of it, conserve it in an effective way, or, in the sad eventuality that it can't be saved, ensure that as much history as possible is preserved, together with any salvageable parts."We were delighted to help - and so, on 25th February, were joined at Lower Halstow by two members of the National Historic Ships UK team, Emerald and Victoria Wallworth, who spent the day documenting the history of Westmoreland and what materials remain of her.

Also there were Rob White of Maritime Films UK, who recorded footage of the barge, demonstrating her structure, degradation and fabric evidence, and Dr Eric Kentley, from National Historic Ships' Council of Experts, who was recorded explaining the condition of Westmoreland, and how the latest guidelines have been aided by recent developments in technology.

This was something of a treat for Matt and Mark in our team - Dr Kentley known to them as one of the maritime archaeologists aboard the submarine which first got to the wreck of the Titanic, and who had worked on the Cutty Sark conservation.The team also got to film an interview with Geoff Gransden, who shared his personal connection with the Westmoreland, along with a photo and document archive.

Reflecting on the day, Dr Kentley told us, "It's never a good moment when it becomes clear there is no future for a historic vessel, but it was very heartening to see how much information about the Westmoreland the team had compiled. Her story and her technical record will live on, indefinitely."The Westmoreland case study will now be used as an online learning tool, by students of National Historic Ships UK's Historic Vessel Conservation course, and you can find the guidelines in parts 1 and 2 of the series Understanding Historic Vessels.A memorable day - not one we'd planned for at the start of the project, but great to have helped to make it happen.