We boarded the boat and cruised down the Thames to Greenwich. The crew made me laugh as we learned the history of the Thames. I sat on the top deck for as long as I could in the rain, but I had to head inside. Luckily, I could continue to listen to dialogue while I enjoyed the view. The Brits always seem to have a back up plan for the weather.
We docked at Greenwich and made our way to the museum. It was fitting that we traveled by boat to the museum. Once we arrived, we met with the head librarian. She looked like she stepped out of a movie set. I could picture her giving one of Dan Brown's characters some vital information to an adventure. But I am getting distracted.
The design of the National Maritime Museum is bright and modern. The original Caird Library was built in 1937 and over time, it encountered issues with storage. The library was renovated in 2011 into a room with clean lines and lots of light. I am curious who designed their new space. I found the room quite beautiful and the design enhanced the treasures within.
The collection includes admiralty records, board of trade, manuscripts, business archives for ship building and ship plans. Maps and charts are stored below the reading room. If the collection is laid out, it would span approximately 12 kms. The archives consist of 6,025 documents, 750 different collections and over 80,000 charts. 60% of the archives are on site and the balance is stored in specialized storage spaces.
Some of the items we were able to view were material from the 15th century, the first anthropological study in Latin of First Nations in Virginia, a document from 1666 describing concerns about the fire in London and the Anglo-Dutch war, and an interesting book about the boat cloak used by Sir John Franklin during an exhibition. Their collection is very interesting and I was happy the tour of the museum was part of the British Studies Program.
