-Caveat Lector- Begin forwarded message: Original Article: http://www.egroups.com/group/rn-history/?start=12 >X-Sender: [EMAIL PROTECTED] (Unverified) >X-Mailer: Windows Eudora Light Version 3.0.1 (32) >X-MIME-Autoconverted: from quoted-printable to 8bit by post.queensu.ca id > JAA04659 >Date: Wed, 24 Feb 1999 10:10:47 +0000 >Reply-To: Marine History Information Exchange Group > <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Sender: Marine History Information Exchange Group > <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >From: "Alan O. Watkins" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Subject: Goodbye Chatham Dockyard... >To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > >It's finally come about, 452 years after Chatham Royal Dockyard's earliest >known date of establishment, the organisation that now runs it is dropping >the name Chatham from the yard's name. Shake in your seaboots, Portsmouth; >be warned San Francisco; hoist the storm warnings, Great Lakes.... > >The renaming was announced this week by the charity that runs the dockyard >as a historical heritage site. The yard that built HMS VICTORY, the >fighting TEMERAIRE, HMS AFRICA and a host of submarines is now called >"World Naval Base, The Historic Dockyard" at Chatham in Kent. > >Admiral Sir Nicholas Hunt, chairman of Chatham Historic Dockyard Trust, >said the renaming was a key part of a bid to make the site appeal to a >worldwide generation brought up on Disney World and other theme parks. > >"We won't lose our historical traditions and identity but we will be >looking more to the leisure market" he said. > >When local Royal Naval Association president Arthur Brown questioned the >decision to drop Chatham from the name, the Trust's chief executive, Joe >Creighton, said "We realise there are people locally who will always call >it Chatham Dockyard but this name change is not meant for them. It's meant >for visitors from overseas, to attract their attention and show them how >important Chatham is in British maritime history." > >And he added "I strongly believe that Medway has a collection of heritage >sites that, outside London, nobody else can compete with. Places such as >Canterbury and Winchester have not got the incredible range of attractions >we have. A tourist can see the entire history in one visit here and World >Naval Base will play a role in that." > >Sir Nicholas threw down the gauntlet to Portsmouth in particular. > >"We are happy to take our rivals on and we are confident we are better than >they are. At the moment Portsmouth rates higher in public understanding but >our aim is to overtake that." > >Ron Green, Editor of Kent Today which is sponsoring the three day Naval >Days event at the end of May, said in an editorial in last night's >newspaper where details of the renaming emerged "What would lead to the >eventual death of the dockyard is complacency. There is no longer a >bottomless pit of Government money to keep the Yard afloat. It has >struggled to make a mark in a hugely competitive market. Its fascinating >buuildings, rich history and fine setting are not enough. Unless the base >can tempt paying visitors from around the world through it s gates it is >doomed to be a decaying also-ran in the third division of historic >attractions. Bold and imaginative ideas are being driven through to give >the dockyard a vibrant new life. The plans are courageous, exciting and >expensive. And possibly the last chance of survival." > >Yet in the same edition the latest multi-million pound plan to revive the >stagnating Chatham shopping centre as the heart of a new City to be called >Medway (providing the Queen approves the plan!) has been unveiled. > >Only weeks before Europe's largest shopping centre opens at Bluewater a few >miles west of Medway, the latest blueprint has been unveiled by Steve >Humphrey, assistant planning and transport officer of Medway. If anyone can >make it happen, Steve will. However, for those who know the Medway towns, >it is the latest hope in a line of proposals which have so far come to >nought. They include a #50 million 'shopping revolution' for Chatham >announced more than 10 years ago, an enclosed shopping centre linked with a >modern tramway system (1990) and a #100 million shops plan unveiled in 1995. > >If I sound somewhat jaundiced forgive me. But I've heard it all before . >So - back to WORLD NAVAL BASE. In a wicked send-up, Kent Today this week >carried a full colour advert with other nations (US abstaining) allegedly >welcoming the news from upstream of my the Medway foreshore . > >"We have fond memories of your dockyard, can't wait to return" - that from >Dutch Naval HQ whose Admiral de Ruyter borrowed one or two English ships to >the consternation of Charles II, Samuel Pepys and John Evelyn in 1665. > >"Congratulations to the Birthplace of our Navy"- purportedly from the >Japanese Defence Force, apparently referring to the Gillingham sailor, >William Adams, who built the first Western style ships for Eayasu in 1605. > >Not surprisingly the Stars and Stripes fly proudly - and provocatively - on >the advert: "US Navy request immediate justification for your new status" >says a message apparently coming from Pacific Fleet HQ at Pearl Harbour > >Meanwhile Admiral Gorshkov, Naval Commissar, Murmansk, is reputedly saying >"Need new moorings. Dispatching fleet immediately." > >From the Antipodes, an unnamed Australian Cultural Attache reportedly >greets the news with "Good on yer sport! Most seafaring Australians >wouldn't give a XXXX for anything else." > >And finally, the Swiss Navy (rowing flotilla) - eyeing the gunboat HMS >GANNET, the submarine HMS OCELOT (mistakenly described as nuclear in the >paper!) and the forthcoming HMS CAVALIER - says "If only we had such a >collection of ships!" > >Portsmouth has looked to its laurels, and hasn't much need to do more than >flutter a red duster if this is the standard for the future Panic not, >Great Lakes and San Francisco.... > >Alan > >Wondering whether the Medway's waters have been muddied enough . > ==================================================== Lexington Media Publishers of Seawaves Magazine, Lexington Media Press and Lynn Valley Link 3017 Mountain Hwy PO Box 16119 North Vancouver BC V7J 2P2 Canada Tel: (604) 987-9494 Fax: (604) 987-9420 Web site: http://www.seawaves.com CCNmail for your free web-based e-mail. http://www.ccnmail.com DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion and informational exchange list. 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