Oh, so sad. I just got the news that the Cutty Sark caught fire.
The Cutty Sark is a clipper ship, built in 1869 and currently dry-docked at Greenwich, London. Until recently the ship was open for tourists. You could go aboard and explore every nook and cranny. You could check out the rigging. You could hold a belaying pin in your very hand. You could go below and see a display of figureheads from other ships of the period. You could, you could, you could lose yourself completely in the romance of the high seas.
Steve and I were lucky enough to be able to go to England on our honeymoon, 14 years ago this summer. We only had one day in London where we could do the tourist thing. We spent the morning visiting Churchill’s Cabinet War Rooms and the afternoon exploring the Cutty Sark. (I’m sure this says something about Steveandme that this is how we chose to spend our one day.) We did a lot of cool stuff on our trip, including a literary pilgrimage or two — yes, we went to Thirsk and saw James Herriot’s real-life veterinary practice! — but there is no question that those two historical sites were by far the most moving and beautiful things we saw. If I had just one day in London I would do it all over again.
Luckily at the time of the fire the Cutty Sark was closed and in the process of being restored. About half the ship had been removed, including the masts. The Wikipedia entry, already updated with information about the fire, seems to be changing every time I refresh the page, and it’s hard to say how extensive the damage is, or whether she can still be restored.
I’m keeping my fingers crossed.
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I never did get to see the Cutty Sark when I was in Britain. I’m hoping they can refurbish the ship…
And I’m jealous – I would have loved to see the herriot practice. All of these things to do the next time I visit. Sigh.
A tangential (or is it tangental?) thought –
I did a 10th grade term paper on clipper ships. Cutty Sark was one — they were the fastest of sailing ships, the last generation of such before steam power took the job of hauling people/goods away from wind-powered sea transport. They were important in bringing each year’s new tea crop from the far east to western ports — first ship in could command ultra-high prices — races were a big deal. Their long, knife-like hull shape, and more extensivve rigging were the basis for their speed. It must have been quite something to be at the top of one of their ultra tall masts, or in the bow, or anywhere else for that matter, flying along under wind power (now loud engines!) across the seas.
Anyway, I’m grading term papers now from my 9th graders. They wrote about civil rights cases. As I talked with them about their papers, and as I’ve read through them, I thought about the various “big” (or so they seemed at the time) research projects/papers I did as a student, and how they stayed with me. I wanted to see the Cutty Sark because of that 10th grade term paper.
I also remember a paper on Joseph McCarthy (the awful senator from Wisconsin who led anti-communist witch-hunts in the early ’50s.
I realize this isn’t a post about term papers, but I wonder if anyone else carries their term papers in a special place, close to the heart?