HARBOUR

STATIONS

 

Bulletin of the Friends of the Royal Navy Submarine Museum

 

No.25                             February 2008

 

 

 From the Chairman

Commander Jeff Tall retires this year from his position as Director of the Royal Navy Submarine Museum. He has made an extraordinary contribution in his 14 years as Director during which the Museum has blossomed into a respected world leader in its field. Some of his legacy is clear for all to see, particularly the Holland I and John Fieldhouse Buildings, which set a track record with the Heritage Lottery Fund that stands us in good stead in applying for funds for the refit of HMS ALLIANCE. The acquisition and display of the shipbuilder’s model of HMS VANGUARD, the Area of Remembrance and the characteristically opportunistic addition of buildings and land from adjacent establishments are visible enhancements that bear Jeff’s hallmark. Less obvious but hugely important is work on the archives, the achievement of formal accreditation and the highly successful education programme for schools. All this owes much to Jeff’s astute and energetic leadership. I know that all members of the Society of Friends hail Jeff’s achievements and wish him well in retirement.

 

 As the next Director, the Trustees have selected an experienced museum professional, Mrs Marion Budgett. Until recently Director of the National Motor Museum at Beaulieu, Marion Budgett has filled a variety of roles with the Museum and Heritage Departments of local government in Somerset and Berkshire, and spent 16 years at the RAF Museum at Hendon. She takes over from Jeff Tall in April.

 

Progress towards realizing the National Museum of the Royal Navy (NMRN) continues, but at glacial pace. It is planned that the Chairmen of Trustees of the four existing museums (RN Museum, RM Museum, FAA Museum and our own RN Submarine Museum) will become the Management Board of a ‘virtual’ museum this year. This Board will look for activities that may be combined to advantage, will seek greater cohesion in telling the RN’s story and will oversee any further moves towards making NMRN a reality. One point that is firmly recognised is that existing Trustees of all four naval museums have a duty in charity law to be convinced that any changes are to the benefit of their own museum before agreeing to them; this proviso is taken seriously by our own Trustees.

The bid for Heritage Lottery funds for the refit of HMS ALLIANCE is a key event for our museum this year. Bob Mealings, our museum Curator, has the lead, overseen by the Development Committee of the Trustees. Matching funding is required and further funds are sought for a new building to replace the ageing Weapons Gallery, to house the shipbuilder’s model of HMS VANGUARD (currently in a marquee) and to provide improved ticket office, shop and, perhaps, café facilities. Vice Admiral Sir Tim McClement is leading the Appeals Committee from which we will be hearing in the course of the year.

 

I look forward to seeing many of you at the AGM which is on Friday 4 July. Around 170 Friends and their guests attended last year making this an event where you are assured of finding at least some familiar faces. If you have not attended before, do join us this year.

Paul Hoddinott.

 

From the Hon. Secretary.

 

I am grateful to those members who visited our website (www.rnsubmusfriends.org.uk) and registered their e-mail addresses. As a result many of you will receive this newsletter by e-mail, which will save a significant amount of postage. It would be very helpful if those who have access to the Internet registered with the website. All Round Look and the calling notice for the AGM will continue to be sent to you by snail mail.

 

This year the Friends have granted the Museum a further £3,000 for the interpretation of the Vanguard model, £6,000 for improvements to the medal collection display (only about 25% of the total collection is currently displayed) and £10,000 to provide buses for school visits. Without this subsidy many schools in poorer areas are unable to afford trips away from school. Last year over 3,000 schoolchildren visited the museum. Letters from some of the visitors, posted on the website, show how much they enjoyed themselves and their teachers are equally appreciative.

 

Nearly £170,000 has now been granted to the museum over the past 13 years. With much of the specialist storage equipment in place and minor projects completed, the committee is now supporting larger projects, which, like the Vanguard model, may need additional funds for two years or more. We continue to keep about £8,000 earmarked for emergency grants, should an artefact come on the market or at auction, and for admin and printing.

 

David Ottley, who will represent the Submariners Association, has joined the committee. David is a member of the Gosport Branch of the SA and is a guide at the museum.

 

Membership stands at about 740. This is a reduction of last year’s figure due to the Treasurer and Membership Secretary’s hard work in chasing up a large number of missing subscriptions. This brought to light a number of resignations, changes of address and so on. The Treasurer would like to thank all those Friends, whose subscriptions had gone astray, for their prompt, patient and generous response to his letters. He is particularly grateful to those few whose banks not only managed to enter the wrong numbers in their computers once, but who also did it a second time!

 

With best wishes and I look forward to seeing you at our 13^th AGM in the John Fieldhouse Building at 1800 on Friday 4^th July.

 

Andrew Buchanan

MINUTES OF THE TWELTH AGM HELD IN THE JOHN FIELDHOUSE BUILDING AT THE SUBMARINE MUSEUM ON FRIDAY 6^TH JULY 2007.

 

The President, The Lady Fieldhouse, welcomed members and their guests, especially those that had travelled long distances and also David Pulvertaft, who would speak after the meeting, his wife and other guests of the Society.

 

Present. 166 members and their guests attended the meeting.

 

Apologies. Apologies were received from Sir Lancelot and Lady Bell-Davies, John Hervey, Steve Jenner and 24 others, whose names were noted at the meeting.

 

Minutes of the 11^th Meeting. These were published in Harbour Stations 2007. No comments had been received, nor were there any matters arising from them. Proposed by Tony Whetstone and seconded by Chris Walker, the minutes were accepted.

 

Chairman’s Report. Reviewing the year, the Chairman reported that membership was holding up well with 766 on the list but we always needed more and urged members to encourage their friends to join. The Society had granted £25,000 to the museum in FY 2006/07. £20,000 had been given towards the interpretation of the fifth scale model of Vanguard, now on display in its marquee in the car park. Proper interpretation was essential for a model of such size and complexity. A further £5,000 had been given to the conservation of a set of important lithographs. The Society now had a website, run by Tom Herman, (www.rnsubmusfriends.org.uk) which carried information and links to other similar sites. The Chairman said that the Alliance refit and other items were high of the museum trustees agenda. Fundraising would be needed, as the matching funding required by a bid to the Heritage Lottery Fund would exceed the funds remaining from the Centenary Appeal. Members would be hearing more on this topic. Turning to the National Museum of the Royal Navy (NMRN), discussed at the 2006 AGM, the Chairman said that proposals had been put forward at the end of 2006. These envisaged start-up costs of £10m and annual maintenance costs of £2 - 3m. Since such sums were currently unavailable from the Defence Budget, the NMRN remained a ‘virtual’ museum, with a website and a Board of Trustees comprising the Second Sea Lord and the Chairmen of the existing four museums, whose purpose was to provide cohesion and equity in the distribution of grant-in-aid funds. The formation of a single museum to trace the history of the Navy remained a long-term aspiration. Meanwhile the trustees of the Submarine Museum were watching developments very closely. He was able to re-assure members that the status of the Friends would not be affected and that our funds would still go to our museum.

 

Adoption of Accounts. Presenting the accounts for FY 2006/07, the Treasurer said that the Society’s funds were in good health. He pointed out that subscriptions and donations were slightly down, due to a generous legacy and donations in the previous year. He pointed out that of the £2,200 administrative costs, £1,900 was due to the production and postage costs of Harbour Stations and All Round Look. He thanked Mike Stevens for examining the accounts, which eliminated an audit fee and said there would be no bank charges in the current year. Proposed by Keith Spinks and

 Appointment of Auditors. The Chairman thanked Mike Stevens for his services, which he gave free. Having been proposed by Giles Fletcher and seconded by John Speller, Mike Stevens was re-appointed.

 

There being no further business, the meeting closed at 1815.

 

Director’s Report. Cdr Tall began his brief round up by thanking the Friends warmly for their continued support. He explained that the 1/5^th scale model of Vanguard had been shipped from Barrow to Devonport for the refit phase of the class and stored in a hangar. When the hangar was needed for other purposes, this ultimate submarine ‘Wendy-house’ dropped into the museum’s hands. He foresaw five year’s work to display and interpret the model. A further success was the Schools Programme. Experience had shown that many schools in the area could not afford trips away. The Trustees had allocated funds to provide transport. As a result, 45 schools (3,000 children) were able to visit the museum. He drew attention to the temporary exhibition,

aimed at younger visitors, which had been assembled by the Curator and the Education Officer. The Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) had asked the Trustees to withdraw the three-phase bid for the Alliance refit and resubmit as a single phase in April 2008. Though this was disappointing, the HLF remained positive towards the refit and the allocation of a £50K development grant was encouraging. He hoped that work on Alliance would start in February 2009.

 

The Chairman introduced Rear Admiral David Pulvertaft, who, having researched figureheads of British warships over fifteen years, spoke on ‘Figureheads with a whiff of submarines’. He traced the development of the figurehead from its first depiction in the Bayeux Tapestry to the 19^th century. About 200 survive, many having been lost in a fire at Devonport in 1860 and more during the Blitz. He explained that the Admiralty gave ships impressive names, but the challenge for the carvers was to interpret the names into a figurehead, much as ship’s badges do today.

 

 

 VISITS PROPOSED FOR 2008