On Bank Holiday Monday 2nd May a group of nine students and 6 staff visited Portsmouth’s Historic Dockyard to see King Henry V111’s warship The Mary Rose and to tour Admiral Lord Nelson’s flagship, The Victory.
It was a very interesting educational trip with all students engrossed in what they saw – from 500 year old everyday items like drinking vessels and cutlery to weapons of war from the time The Mary Rose warship sank in The Solent in July 1545 AD. It was recovered from the seabed some 437 years later and installed as a permanent exhibit at the dockyard after years of careful preservation.
It was fantastic to be able to see the oldest warship in the world, and so many historic artefacts at such close quarters. Aboard The Victory we took a full tour from HMS Victory’s poop deck, from where we could see some modern aircraft carriers in dock, down to the hold at the very bottom of the ship.
Viewing aircraft carriers from HMS Victory’s poop deck.
We were even able to walk around underneath the hull and to see how she was constructed. There was so much to see, and it was great to be able to experience how sailors lived on both vessels and to really connect with these amazing ships of war from the past.
This student tests his longbow pulling skills in the Mary Rose Museum