Gala dinner - another Museum triumph

 

The Gala Fundraising dinner was a triumph last night. Held in the presence of HRH the Princess Royal, we raised over £20,000 for the Museum in the auction alone and there was even better news to come.

The event was held in the cafe (the reception) and Main Hall (dinner) which looked absolutely stunning. HRH mingled with the guests before dinner, chatting away in a very easy style. She is her father's daughter and enjoys nothing more than a good intelligent discussion about a relevant topic. That day she had already opened something in Southampton, had two appointments in Exeter and then came on to Falmouth.

Dinner in the Main Hall was supplied by Stein's with wines by St Austell Brewery. The decor was fantastic, masterminded by our President Alexandra Bolitho. Some 124 people dressed in their finery sat down to a wonderful meal which was served by the staff team (minus one grumpy one who had to be smart and wear a tie) all dressed in their blue shirts. No one spilled anything and it looked very professional.

After a short speech by HRH, made without notes and saying all the right things both about the Museum and the importance of the maritime heritage, Ellen Winser made a very personal speech, recounting the achievements of the Museum, praising the staff and volunteer team, and counting herself proud to be one member that team. She also talked of the need for the Museum to raise funds and set a target of raising £4 million over the next ten years. She ended by reporting that we have received a pledge by a mystery couple who have offered to match £ for £ any money we raise up to £1m. This is an incredible challenge and one that will encourage us all to work even harder at our fundraising.

As HRH left she was delighted to see the whole staff team lined up in the foyer where she thanked them for their work. Then the party relaxed and got down to the important business of the auction. Masterminded by new trustee, Buddha Hunt, this raised over £20,000 and the raffle will have raised even more (this is written early in the morning and we have yet to count the loot). All of this will be doubled of course.

Finally the guests had had enough of the delicious food, drink and networking and the team worked into the small hours, turning the Main Hall back into a Museum display.

As they left, many guests praised the work of the Museum, complimented me on the team and the work that they have done and emphasised their commitment to help.  Someone even used the dreaded words 'Next time ...'

Congratulations to everyone who helped make all of this happen, especially the core team of Tamsin, Naomi, and Dayna who anchored the thing and kept me away from seemingly endless committee planning meetings and to people like Michael and Annette who appeared un-phased by the workload. We will post some photographs when they are available.

Jonathan Griffin
(without tie, with addled brain after a few hours' sleep but awake enough to be proud of his team)

Visit to Hamburg International Maritime Museum

by Nigel Rimmer

I visited the Hamburg International Maritime Museum in Hamburg's town centre on 25 May on a very wet and windy afternoon.

Their displays were very different to ours. They had 40,000 boat models and a vast array of Naval uniforms, weapons through the ages and shipbuilding through the ages including welding and riveting. There were also warships and sailing ships, viz windjammers etc. The museum contained some very old ships' paintings, mainly by Dutch and Flemish artists. There was a large (20ft long) cabinet with a medal display and one of the items was a small diamond encrusted award. There was a mock-up of a first class cabin on a German liner with a double bed and commode. Similar to NMMC there was a knotting and splicing display.

We were able to present to Rotenburg (Falmouth's twin town) two model boats from our shop, one of which will stand on the window sill of Herr Hachemoller's office.

Overall, I could have spent 2 days' holiday in there.

Museum pirates took the Falmouth Carnival by storm

Many thanks to the ‘motley’ crew of pirates that turned out to promote the Museum in the Falmouth Walking Carnival last Saturday. The disguises were so good that I don’t think anyone spotted who we actually were but we were certainly noticed by the crowd and managed not to squash anyone with our big museum ship.

Life behind the scenes at NMMC

by Clive Mathison

On the afternoon of Saturday 27 July 2013, the pontoon was busy gearing up for a crabbing activity for the enjoyment of school children and parents alike. Tickets were in demand and visitors were eager to have a go.

Meanwhile in other parts of the museum there was a steady flow of visitors. I soon found myself engaging with a group of schoolchildren and their tutor who asked where was the best place to start their vistation to the NMMC. The schoolchildren were all Japanese and the English tutor explained that they were all from Sendai (Japan) where the tragic earthquake occurred recently. The group were visitors from the Cambridge English School and had come to visit Falmouth.

Here we see them taking an interest in what was happening on the Pontoon at the crabbing session. Their tutor hopes to come back next year with another group of pupils.

My encounter with our foreign national visitors continued throughout the afternoon. I was next asked about the Search & Rescue helicopter by two mature students from the Republic of Czechoslovakia who were impressed by the scope of exhibits in the NMMC. One student said that she would be bringing her husband to see the museum next year.

Finally, two Finnish nationals who had come to stay with a friend in Penryn spent the afternoon enjoying the exhibits and Falmouth's beaches.

David Barnicoat's last big pilotage

by Colin Spargo















The Artania was the last big passenger ship that Senior Pilot David Barnicoat took charge of.

Some of the Cruise Ship Ambassadors saw them off.