Crossing the Line

Day 4:

Today we went to Greenwich, which is where the Royal Museums of Greenwich are located.  The museums include the National Maritime Museum, the Cutty Sark, the Royal Observatory, and the Queen's House.  Additionally, the Caird Library is part of the museum, and we visited the library and spoke with two of the people who work there.  We then had time to spend in Greenwich at the other parts of the museum or in the town.  Of course, we also saw the Prime Meridian and spent some time standing in both the Eastern and Western Hemispheres!  Once we returned home from Greenwich, we had a welcome celebration at the King's College Chapel complete with a reception that followed.

Anchor at the National Maritime Museum Entrance

At the National Maritime Museum, we saw the museum and the Caird Library.  The librarians at Caird Library were kind enough to explain not only how the library worked as far as setting up the catalog using the Universal Decimal Classification system, which is similar to the Dewey Decimal system except it also uses symbols and punctuation in its call numbers.  The library is a special collection focusing on maritime subjects and has been compiled from a variety of sources including Sir James Caird, the library's benefactor and namesake.  Items include things such as journals, crew lists for passenger ships or navy vessels, letters, newspapers, online resources, Lloyd's List, Captain's Registers, maps, ship's plans, etc.  Patrons can use items one at a time for a total of three items per hour or access some digitized material via the library's website.

The Caird Library

The library's archives are arranged by size to make conservation easier.  Like-sized items are placed on the large movable shelving units.  Then, within the size constraints, the items are arranged by sections. Public records such as dockyard records and personal papers from naval officers like Lord Horatio Nelson are placed together.  The library also has collections based on each collector's individual interests, whether it was pirates, maps, signal books, etc.  Single items that have been donated and that do not fit into another category have their own section in the archives, as well.  Our guide showed us an example of one of these single items that had been donated.  It was a green, leather-bound book of hand-drawn maps.  The maps were colorful, beautiful, and quite inaccurate, because it was created when people had little knowledge of the world.

Following our tour of the library itself, our guide showed us some of the pieces in the Caird Library's collection.  This part was absolutely amazing!!  He showed us a book about pirates, highwaymen, murderers, etc. that consisted of 26 pictures, called Prints of 26 Malefactors. One of the pirates pictured was Blackbeard, or Edward Teach.  Our guide shared a story about Blackbeard putting fuses in his beard to make it emit smoke in an effort to be more intimidating and fierce.  He was eventually captured by the British Royal Navy.

The Cover of Prints of 26 Malefactors

Page about Blackbeard, or Edward Teach

We also were able to learn about the Spanish Armada, and a British spy named William Littleton.  He went to Spain and reported back to Queen Elizabeth I.  He was able to send information about the number of men they had available and port locations.  He kept records in a book, and the library has this book in their collection.  His handwriting is small, and he kept the information in charts.

William Littleton's record book

The final set of materials we viewed from the library's special collections came from a collection about Lord Horatio Nelson.  Nelson's collection included letters and journals from other seamen, such as Edward Mangen.  Mangen was a surgeon who joined the navy during the Napoleonic wars at a later age than most enlisted men.  He was only in the navy for approximately nine months, because he could not handle being at sea and the activities of the other seamen.    He kept a journal that included detailed, colorful pictures in addition to his written accounts of his daily life and that of his colleagues.  He eventually resigned and returned to being a chaplain at home. 

The many papers we were able to see spread across the table.

Also in the Nelson collection, was a boatswain's whistle.  It has initials inscribed on it, but no one knows who it originally belonged to.  If you notice, on the sides on the box in which the whistle is stored, there are two white ribbons.  These are used to make it easier to pull out of the main archival display storage box.  (If you look closely, you can also see my reflection in the clear box, too.  Oops!)  By looking at the second picture, you can see that each piece has its particular place and the ribbons help the user remove the item without damaging it.   

Boatswain's Whistle

Complete Archival Display Box for the Nelson Collection

The Caird Library guides were very helpful and informative.  It was interesting to see how a special collection worked and to visit their storage area.  To be allowed to handle such old material was amazing, and I learned a lot about maritime history and conservation in general that I had never known. 

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Following our time at the library, we had free time to explore the rest of Greenwich.  My little group decided to take a quick trip around the Museum and hit the highlights.  Here is a photo array of what we saw:

 

    Baltic Exchange Stained Glass:

After the museum, we raced up the hill to see the ball on top of the Royal Observatory drop exactly at 1:00pm.  We made it just in time to see the red ball's rapid descent and then make the extremely rigorous climb to the observatory to visit the Prime Meridian and Harrison's Clocks.  Here are the pictures from outside the Naval College, the Royal Observatory and the Prime Meridian, where I did stand in both the Eastern and Western Hemispheres simultaneously!

Every good naval college needs a ship in a bottle!

You know it's 1 o'clock when this red ball drops!

Armillary Dial

Prime Meridian--Eastern and Western Hemispheres

I'm in two places at once!

Here are the pictures I took when we looked at the exhibit about time:

Harrison's first timekeeper (1736)

I didn't tour the Cutty Sark, but I did get to see it as we were walking by. Go to the Royal Museums Greenwich website about the Cutty Sark and find out more information.

Cutty Sark

We also walked around the Old Royal Naval College, which was designed by Sir Christopher Wren.  The Naval College used to be the site of a home belonging to Henry VIII and his daughters.

Gates at the Royal Naval College--Greenwich

Once we returned to London, we went to the welcome reception at the King's College Chapel in Somerset Hall.  Here are a few pictures of the chapel.