Cutty Sark 'Ready By 2012'

Whoopee. The Cutty Sark will be ready by 2012, according to a joint announcement by the Mayor Boris Johnson and Gordon Brown today.

Dazza sent me a link to the news at the BBC website, where the two leaders seem to be announcing it like it's a good thing that it's two-bloomin'-years late. All they care about is that it will be ready for the Olympics.

The excuse is, apparently, that, in the fire, "the frame had corroded more than first thought". Hmm.

I thought I'd check out the Cutty Sark website and found a statement. (I never got a reply to any of my queries, btw).

It's mainly gushing about how marvellous it is that the ship's going to be around for the Olympics and the creation of the Royal Borough. Gordon Brown waffles some platitudes about how sad everyone was when the fire damaged it (sticking his neck out as usual...) and Boris Johnson has the gall to say "I am thrilled that the restoration is progressing with speed since the fire in 2007," which proves he's not visited Greenwich for sometime.

Don't get me wrong - I'm really keen to see the Cutty Sark back again, looking lovely. And I still think it could look spectacular with the plans to raise it, complete with lightshows and corporate jollies - as long as they can find a way to do it without totally killing the ship. I mean, let's face it, she was never going to sail again, and this could have been - and, yes, still could be - a fabulous focus for the town centre.

I just get the feeling that at the very least we've not been kept in the loop about this. I mean what HAS been going on?

By not telling the people who have supported them in the past how things are progressing, they've missed out on, if nothing else, a great money-raising opportunity. I, for one, would have cheerily put my hand in my pocket again - and been happy to join in fund-raising shindigs as far as this little blog's concerned - but I was hardly likely to do it when, even as a Friend, I got no news, only second and third-hand rumours which may or may not have any basis in truth - we just don't know.

They appear to have feted the big donors (understandable, of course) but completely ignored the smaller, possibly more local, supporters who may not have managed the millions that the big cheeses did, but who, together could have made a substantial difference.

At least we can be sure that this latest deadline is the last one - after all, if they miss the Olympics, we can pretty much kiss the entire project goodbye.

Cutty Sark Updated Website

After months of no news, I see that there's finally an update on the official website today.

No mention of Professor Mason's resignation last year; the news is Greenwich Time-worthy in its cheeriness - everything's coming on fantastically as far as the official website concerned.

I still haven't had a reply to my queries - but at least there's something up on the site now...

Cutty Sark Update

Sorry to everyone who caught my rambling rant this morning. I've now cut it out as being entirely irrelevant to the title of this post, save the bit that bemoans the loss of The Big Smoke, from the print-edition of Time Out, but which at least lives on in blog form, and is just as fine, if not finer than before. Newsy, interesting snippets of comment on issues actually important to Londoners - in other words stuff I actually want to read - like the fate of The Cutty Sark...

What may or may not be going on behind those hoardings has been a bone of contention for a while. For some time last Autumn, things got really unpleasant and I decided to leave the subject for a while, but now the glorious Big Smoke has mentioned it, I feel it's time to start discussing it again.

There's no point in my re-hashing what Steffan Meyric Hughes has discussed so beautifully in his article, save to say that the chief engineer of the project, Professor Peter Mason, has resigned over what he considers to be the 'damaging' plans to raise the ship so that a conference-centre type space can be squeezed in below.

I knew he was considering resignation, from an article in Professional Engineering magazine (don't ask what I was doing reading that...) but I didn't know that he actually had done the deed. The University of Greenwich did some modelling on the impact that effectively putting the old girl in stiletto heels for the rest of her days would do (one wonders why they weren't commissioned to do this before work started) and concluded that the resulting damage would be untenable. The professor decided that he couldn't bear vandalism to be done on his watch and did the honorable thing.

I thought I'd check the Cutty Sark's official website to find out what's going on. The 'latest news' section has not been updated since October 2008. As someone who has supported them in the past, I used to get occasional newsletters from them - they have dried up too.

In the absence of real news from the Trust, it's easy to start speculating. They really need to address this.

With all this business about the Olympics, we (and yes, I include myself in this) have taken our eye off the Cutty Sark ball. We're so used to seeing that eyesore in the middle of town, with it's flapping, shredded plastic tarps and always-closed information point, that we've almost stopped seeing it. It's time we started looking again. I have written to the Cutty Sark Trust, asking them what's happening. I wonder if I'll get a reply.

Pin Money

I guess I'm not the only Friend of the Cutty Sark who received one of these this week. It's a little 'thank you' for Friends' support in the preceeding months, from the Trust, given by way of an apology, they say, for ignoring us, not something I'd actually noticed. I'd assumed they had more pressing things on their minds than pacifying minor donors.

It's quite a sweet little thing - a shiny star with a wavy outline that only slightly reminds me of a Soviet (or, strangely enough, American) military badge, and don't get me wrong, it's a nice gesture.

But should this be what they're spending their money on at a time like this? I don't know how much this cost - presumably not huge amounts - but personally I'd have been really rather happy to see them buy - oh, I don't know, a plank or something, instead.

They've got most of the money they need to put them back on track for restoration after that terrible fire, but their website says they still need donations. So why are they sending us little lapel pins? To make us feel guilty and send more cash? I can't help feeling that if this is what they're spending it on, my donation has already been swallowed up.

I don't feel, and haven't felt, left out of the restoration process. We can always have more news - and the update newsletters are welcome - they both reassure us and recommit us. The viewing window will be a really great thing, once the tarps come off enough to actually reveal any work being done. But my first thoughts on receiving this little badge was 'why?'

What do you think? Have you received one of these and thought the same thing? Or do you think it's the least they can do for people who gave them money when they really needed it, and that I should just lighten up?

Fully Funded

Yo! The shipping magnate Sammy Ofer, who gave all that cash to the Maritime Museum a few months ago, has been digging into his pockets again.

He's smashed the piggy bank, checked the back of the sofa and looked in the glove compartments of his sundry cars and scraped together £3.3m to make sure the old girl can complete her restoration.

Ross sent me the link to the BBC News story

I seem to remember being slightly mealy-mouthed about Mr Ofer's last offer, but this one? Well - hooray. The Phantom's smiling now...

Hot News

Straight off the press, folks.

I emailed the Cutty Sark Trust yesterday about my idea for an Observation Platform - and have just received this from Julia Parker, Operations Manager:

"Guess what? We will soon be having a viewing platform!It’s taken us a while to sort out the details, but hopefully we should have it in place within the next month.I’ll send you an update as soon as I have an exact date….."

So - not quite because of me - the idea was in the ether already - but hey - who cares. Beat you to the front of the queue, guys...

Julia's said she'll send me some up to date pics too. Cor...

Cutty Sark Cash-Generator-O-Matic

I've just had a thought. Every time I go past the Cutty Sark's boarded-up hulk, I see some one or other trying to peek through the little gap in the gate where the padlock goes. Sometimes there's even a little queue of nosy parkers trying to get a glimpse of what's going on - especially now there are interesting noises again. And let's face it - we're all just a little bit curious to know how things are proceeding behind that chipboard and plastic shell.

Don't you think it would be great if they created a little scaffolded observation platform, where people could pay a couple of quid a pop to watch the work going on? It would surely pay for itself - they might even get a local company to donate the equipment and erection in return for a little sign on the side - and they'd get more money towards the restoration programme. It could even be a little ramp so that wheelchairs could get up there too - after all it's not that high up.

I'd certainly return on a regular basis - especially if there was the odd expert around to answer questions from time to time. And it would be a good way of getting tourists involved in the works so they'd be more likely to return when it was finished.

What do you think, folks? Shall I suggest it to them? Would you pay a small fee to see the restoration works? How much? Maybe they could do a loyalty card scheme - where you get your card stamped every time you visit the works - a full card would be a free visit when it all opens again?