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Discover
the Romance of Maritime Britain with Master and Commander: The Far
Side of the World
By Simon Heptinstall
The sea breeze
flapping across heavy canvas sails, wind whistling through salty
rigging, and the gentle creak of tarred wood as a proud sailing
ship cuts through a swell…maritime heritage isn’t just
something to visit. It’s something to hear, feel and smell
too.
As the home base of the Royal Navy for more than 1,000 years, Britain
is the finest place to experience that complete taste of swashbuckling
history, romantic gallantry and seafaring prowess.
The new Russell Crowe film [related Russell
Crowe article], Master and Commander – The Far Side
of the World, is set on the high seas during the Napoleonic Wars.
Based on the Patrick O’Brian novels, the film follows the adventures
of Captain Jack Aubrey whose vessel is attacked by an enemy warship.
A man on a mission, he sets sail on a high stakes chase across two
oceans to intercept and capture his foe.
If the dashing naval heroes of Master and Commander whet your appetite,
Britain’s nautical attractions are a must. Crowe’s Captain
Jack Aubrey is the latest in a long line of British heroes of the
sea, both fictional and real; for this is the homeland of Admiral
Nelson, Sir Francis Drake, Captain Cook and Sir Walter Raleigh.
So it’s hardly surprising that Britain is one big treasure
island where the nautical gold isn’t buried or hidden, it’s
simply scattered all around the beautiful coastline.
Nowhere else in the
world can visitors get so close to real sea-going adventurers.
You can stand on the green at Plymouth Hoe where Sir Francis Drake
played bowls as the Armada approached and retrace the steps of
the Pilgrim Fathers as they boarded the Mayflower; stroll round
the atmospheric Belfast docks where the Titanic was built; and
even stand astride the Greenwich Meridian Line – centre of
all timekeeping and map-reckoning.
In fact Greenwich is a wonderful place to launch any nautical
tour of Britain. At this World Heritage Site on the banks of the
Thames in London, the sense of maritime history is so strong you
almost expect to see Captain Aubrey sailing past at the helm of
HMS Surprise.
There’s nothing fictional about the world’s only surviving
three-masted tea clipper, the Cutty
Sark. At Greenwich you can step aboard and imagine the bustle
of a Victorian trading ship. Explore the magnificent Old
Royal Naval College and National
Maritime Museum. This is where boatbuilders found original
1757 drawings to create the stunning replica of HMS Rose which
doubles as HMS Surprise in Master and Commander.
And as the Thames winds through London, its banks are a sequence
of landmarks of maritime legacy. The new Museum
in Docklands charts the fascinating history of London’s
river port. Head west to the second world war cruiser HMS
Belfast. Discover about life on board by touring gun turrets,
cabins and even the engine room.
Further upstream, between London Bridge and Shakespeare’s
Globe Theatre is The
Golden Hinde, a full-scale reconstruction of Francis Drake’s
famous galleon.
Down on the south coast in Hampshire, a couple of hours from London,
is one of the Royal Navy’s biggest and busiest ports. The
Portsmouth
Historic Dockyard is home to three most important warships
- Henry VIII's lavish galleon Mary Rose, Lord Nelson's HMS Victory
and the world's first iron battleship, the mighty HMS Warrior
of 1860.
A modern museum called Action
Stations gives an insight into today’s Royal Navy, while
The Royal Navy Museum offers a spectacular slice of seafaring
history.
Head west to Cornwall, a county long associated with smuggling,
fishing and shipwrecks. The National
Maritime Museum Cornwall recently opened in an extraordinary
modern building on Falmouth’s huge natural harbour, where
Nelson’s fleet once gathered before sailing for Trafalgar.
Even further south, maritime treasure hunters will discover a
hoard of seafaring gold in the Channel Islands. The more energetic
can head for the sea, step back in time and dive amongst the numerous
wrecks surrounding the islands. Explore the Maritime Museum in
St. Helier, Jersey and learn about the islanders’ relationship
with the sea over the past 8,000 years.
120 miles west of London is a city with a merchant naval heritage
– Bristol. Here you can board the SS
Great Britain, which 160 years ago was the world’s first
ocean liner and carried 15,000 emigrants to Australia. Alongside
her is The Matthew, a replica of the 15th-century vessel in which
John Cabot crossed the Atlantic to claim Newfoundland.
Head north into Wales
to find a coastline dotted with old smugglers’ caves and
fishermen’s pubs. Seafaring highlights include Swansea’s
maritime quarter, Cardiff’s
stylishly renovated docklands and a string of dramatic medieval
castles commanding strategic waterways, like those at Pembroke,
Harlech, Beaumaris and Conway.
On the other side
of Britain, England’s eastern counties boast another long
and varied coastline.
A few miles inland is the picturesque town of Boston,
from where the Pilgrim Fathers attempted to flee in 1607. Make
an appointment to visit the Guildhall courtroom and cells where
the ringleaders were tried and imprisoned before they fled to
the New World via Holland.
In Norfolk visit Great Yarmouth, to see where Nelson grew up and
got his first taste for the sea. The town is now home to the Norfolk
Nelson Museum.
Further north, the city of Hull has a long seafaring tradition.
The original HMS Rose was built here in 1757. But Hull
is a modern vibrant centre, too, with attractions including a
Maritime Museum, a North Sea trawler converted to a floating museum
and a renovated lightship.
Further up the coast discover Captain Cook Country. The town of
Whitby has been associated with the famous seafarer for over two
hundred years. Here you can visit the harbourside Captain
Cook Memorial Museum. Still further north, find out more at
Middlesbrough’s Captain
Cook Birthplace Museum.
On the other side of the Pennines is the world-famous port of
Liverpool. Visit Merseyside Maritime in a former bonded warehouse,
part of the historic Albert Dock on the banks of the Mersey
or cross to Birkenhead to see the UK’s largest collection
of 20th century warships.
Conclude your tour north of the border. Scotland has a strong
naval history of its own, such as Clydeside’s proud shipbuilding
tradition. The Coastal cities of Glasgow, Aberdeen and Dundee
have fascinating maritime museums, and Scotland’s capital
Edinburgh is now home to the Royal
Yacht Britannia. Visitors can step on board the ship that
was once home to the world's most famous family.
Useful websites:
For information on SeaBritain 2005, a national maritime celebration
of the ways in which the sea touches our lives, visit: www.seabritain.com
VisitBritain: www.visitbritain.com/moviemap
Master and Commander: www.masterandcommanderthefarsideoftheworld.com
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