Cutty Sark
The Cutty Sark is a British clipper ship. Built in, 1869 she was the fastest clipper on the ocean. Time was money, and she was fast! Her reign died with the onset of steamships. She was sold to a Portuguese company and renamed. In 1922 a retired British sea captain acquired her, gave her back her original name and used her for a training ship. She was finally retired in 1954 when she was put on permanent dry dock in Greenwich. In 2007, during conservation efforts, she caught fire and was extensively damaged. Today, the enclosure around her gives her the appearance of sitting on a sea of glass. Inside, one can walk under her shiny hull or even enjoy a light snack at the cafe below her bow.
The hull is covered below the waterline in a metal alloy of 70% copper and 30% zinc. This stopped the barnacles from attaching themselves and made for smoother and faster passage through the water. She is a composite ship with a wooden hull bolted with about 19,500 bolts to an iron framework. This took up less space – leaving more room for cargo – and made her very strong. 90% of the hull planks we see today are original timbers (Indian teak), dating from the time when she was a working ship.
Leaving London, she would carry a mixed cargo of everything from baking powder to booze to machinery parts to shoes. The bottom of the ship was covered with boards laid close together. On these, hundreds of tons of large stones were spread out to make the ship stable. Higher up, in the hold and the 'tween deck, both sides of the ship were battened like this so that the cargoes like tea chests could be packed tightly. Any gaps between the battens and the chests were filled with small stones. It might have taken weeks to find cargo, but she could be loaded with more than 10,000 tea chests in 2-3 days. Bamboo matting covered with canvas made sure the tea kept dry if water seeped in. If she returned with a light cargo such as wool, she would carry 200 tons of chrome or nickel ore as a ballast.
The ship's figurehead is Cutty Sark, the nickname of the witch Nannie Dee in Robert Burn's 1791 poem “Tam o'Shanter”. In the poem, drunken Tam comes across a scene of witches and warlocks dancing. He is beguiled by Nannie Dee who is wearing a chemise (sark) that is much too short (cutty). He shouts out “Weel done, Cutty-sark” which causes the demons to give chase. However, his horse is swift and Nannie Dee only manages to grab the horse's tail as Tam escapes over the water – which the demons cannot cross. Hence, the bare-breasted Cutty Sark holding a grey horse's tail flying over the water.
On the 'tween deck was an interactive display that showed one colour wind and another colour ocean currents. The idea was to sail your ship from one point to the other in the fastest time, taking advantage of the information provided. Young boys and their fathers were racing their respective ships. It looked like they were having a great time. The original Bell was also on display.
On the main deck, a guide was demonstrating how to raise and lower the numerous and massive sails with the seeming tangle of ropes. He was directing a group of good nature kids who were struggling badly but realizing just how hard being a sailor was in those days.
The quarters of the 19-30 crew members were open to public inspection as well. The bunks for the men were very small, not much bigger than a booth seat in a restaurant. Some young boys were crawling up into them and wondering aloud how on earth a grown man sleep in them. The bow of the ship had a pig pen beneath it and the stern had a chicken coop – fresh eggs and meat for the long journey. Craftsmanship showed itself even in the steps leading up to the bow, they were decorated with elaborate metal edges, no doubt to prevent slipping.
The officer's quarters were much more elaborate than the rest of the crew. They had a fancy saloon/dining room complete with fireplace. The fireplace was only lit when they were in port and hosting dignitaries. The dining table had what looked like a wooden chandelier with round holes hanging above it. In fact, it was used to keep their drinking glasses. It hung just above eye level and would swing with the movement of the ship, which prevented spills. The galley (kitchen), mess, and offices were also open. Fragile dishes and navigating equipment were safely behind glass.
Nearby is the Greenwich Foot Tunnel. This tunnel is 15 meters below the Thames. It is 370 meters long. The outside diameter is 4 meters. Cast-iron rings coated with concrete and surfaced with 200,000 white glazed tiles make the inside diameter only 2.74 meters. It was built in 1899-1902 linking Greenwich on the south bank with the Isle of Dogs on the north. It replaced the expensive and sometimes unreliable ferry service allowing workers living south of the Thames to reach their workplaces in the London docks and shipyards.
Royal Observatory
From star gazers to understanding how Caribbean cruises navigate. I didn't know what to expect from the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, but I certainly came away impressed.
The path through Greenwich Park is a lovely tree-lined affair where one could spend hours idling the time away. It covers 74 hectars. The path leading up to the Observatory is fairly steep, but one is treated to the most spectacular view over the River Thames and the London skyline at the top. One can see Westminster, St. Paul's Cathedral, Canary Wharf and the O2 Dome off in the distance, as well as the Cutty Sark and the Queen's House closer by.
Turning to the Observatory itself is the 24 hour Shepard Gate Clock. The Shepherd clock was probably the first clock to display Greenwich Mean Time to the public. It uses an unusual 24-hour analog dial and is in fact controlled by the master clock inside the Observatory. It is an early example of an electric clock. It was constructed and installed by Charles Shepherd in 1852.
On the back side of the clock, in the courtyard, is the Greenwich Mean Line that represents the historic Prime Meridian of the World – Longitude 0°. The line divides the eastern and western hemispheres of the Earth, just as the Equator divides the northern and southern hemispheres. It is a brass looking strip set in between the cobblestones with the longitudinal bearings of various locations. The strip leads directly from the old observatory that boasts a “Prime Meridian” sign. A laser beams out to the north from the top of the building. In good viewing conditions (standing beneath the beam and no more than 100 meters on either side of it and looking toward the south) it can be seen for 36 miles with the naked eye.
The Royal Observatory in Greenwich was the the cutting edge of star gazing. The Airy Transit Circle (telescope) was designed by Astronomer Royal George Biddell Airy. He took his first observation through the transit circle on 4 January 1851. Through the telescope it was determined that certain stars, whose positions in the sky were precisely known, were designated as "clock stars". The transit times of these stars could be calculated very precisely from their coordinates. This allowed astronomers to check the accuracy of the standard clock, and set it to the correct time. Even with all this modern technology, Greenwich Mean Time did not become the nation's standard until 1880. By the late 19th century 72% of the world's commerce depended on sea-charts which used Greenwich as the Prime Meridian. At a conference held in Washington DC in 1884 it was agreed that the meridian line marked by the cross-hairs in the Airy Transit Circle eyepiece would indicate 0° longitude and the start of the Universal Day, creating a 24 international time-zone system based on the Greenwich Meridian. It took several decades for the idea to be accepted by all countries. The transit circle sits in its original mounting, in the Transit Circle Room of the old observatory.
At one time, the only sure way to have the correct time was to bring a pocket watch to the Royal Observatory. One clever family profited from this by getting their watch set at the Observatory then going around London and selling people the correct time. Eventually, the telegraph would share the Greenwich time with the public through simultaneous chiming of hundreds of time signals across the country. In 1924, the BBC introduced the famous “six-pip” sequence as a public time service.
Flamsteed House is the original Royal Observatory building at Greenwich. King Charles II instructed Christopher Wren (architect of St. Paul's Cathedral), who was also an astronomer, to design the building in 1675 and it was completed the following year. Astronomer Royals were once required to live in the original observatory building. Some even brought their children up there. A walk through the House gives a glimpse into their time spent there. There are home remedies for colds, fever, and salves on display. There is an interesting suit made from wool, linen and silk to keep warm while observing the stars on display, as well.
There is a beautiful Octagon Room that was designed to observe celestial events including eclipses, comets and planetary movements. With its 13 foot high windows, the room was perfect for watching the sky, but not ideal for positional observations, because none of the walls were aligned with a meridian. The most important positional observations were actually made in a small house in the gardens, which is probably where the wool suit came in handy.
The Octagon Room houses a selection of timepieces and astronomical instruments including a clock with a 13 foot pendulum that swung front to back instead of side to side, clocks that measured the rotation of the Earth in relation to the stars rather than the Sun, and a telescope that rested on a ladder to steady it.
The bright red Time Ball on the roof of Flamsteed House is one of the world's earliest public time signals. By the 1830's, most British sailors navigated using chronometers. These needed to be set accurately before sailing. The Time Ball was installed in 1833. It allowed anyone in sight of the Royal Observatory to obtain Greenwich Time. It still drops precisely at 1:00 PM daily. Originally, it was winched up and released by hand. Today it is mechanically controlled by an electrical impulse from the Shepherd Master Clock. It has several dents in it because during some renovations the ball was taken down and the workmen assumed it was to be trashed. They began kicking it around like a soccer ball until someone saw them and stopped them from completely destroying this valuable and essential antique. Unfortunately, the time ball was not operating the day I visited due to technical problems. Maybe they should not have removed the manual winch.
The Observatory museum houses a detailed history of time and timekeeping including the Burgess Clock B that set the Guinness World Record for being the most accurate mechanical pendulum timekeeper. It varies only a half second in 100 days. As impressive as that is, it would not have been possible without John Harrison's invention of the marine chronometer and the solving of the problem of determining longitude while at sea. His timekeepers are on display, including the H4. H4 is considered the most important machine ever made and is the basis for every clock and wristwatch today.
Sailors could easily determine latitude by the sun at noon, but not longitude. They were never entirely sure of where they were on the north-south axis. They would sail to the latitude of their destination then turn toward the destination and sail in a constant line of latitude. This prevented the ship from using the most direct route or taking advantage of trade winds and currents. This often extended the journey, risking a shortage of rations, causing illness or death for the sailors. It also increased the likelihood of shipwrecks.
In 1714, the British government offered a prize of £20,000 (nearly £3 million today) to whoever could solve the problem with accuracy. After five years of effort, John Harrison came up with the H1. It performed well enough for the Board to award Harrison £500 for further development. Five years later he came up with the H2, but it was never tested due to a war with Spain, which was just as well because Harrison noticed a huge flaw in his design. However, it was again enough for the Board to award yet another £500 for him to continue his research. Harrison spent 17 years developing his third sea-clock. It had 700 precisely engineered parts, but even before it was completed Harrison realized the heavy balances were unstable and began working on a radical new prototype – the H4. After 45 years of effort, he developed a sea-going clock that could keep regular time in spite of the ship's motion, temperature change and friction. He then had to fight to get his reward money.
Outside, around the courtyard, are a variety of sundials as well as a section of William Herschel's telescope from 1781 when he discovered Uranus. The family tombstone of Sir Edmond Halley is mounted on the wall of the building that holds the camera obscura – with a real-time panorama of the Queen's House.
I ran out of time before having a chance to see the Planetarium and Astronomy Centre, and the Altazimuth Pavilion – which has an exhibition about the sun. And I did not take enough time checking out the Great Equatorial Telescope.
Thankfully, I visit London often and can continue my tour another time.
The day Carrie and crew left, my son and his family returned from their Croatian holiday. Michaela works from home and she needed a few hours for important calls. I took the kids to the V&A Museum of Childhood in Bethnal Green. It is easy to get to and loads of fun for kids with lots of interactive games and toys. Freya was particularly fascinated with the shadow puppet story of The Paper Bag Princess. We had to sit through it twice. We did crafts and Freya drew a picture of me, complete with big glasses and curly hair. We had lunch at the Museum. On the way home we stopped at MacDonalds for another snack, and to kill more time. The Leytonstone MacDonalds has tablets at the tables. Julian was familiar with how to navigate them to find a game for himself and a baby game for Freya.
Julian was in school and Freya's playschool did not start on the same day, so we went to the park. Remember, I was trying to kill time while Michaela worked. Freya loves to swing so I thought I will keep pushing her until she wanted to stop. 45 minutes later my arms were killing me but she was still blissfully having fun. Yet another day, I took the kids to Tesco for hot chocolate and cookies. That evening Len and I went to Thai Thai restaurant.
The following day I caught a flight to Lisbon to meet Ed, who was arriving the following day.
