Medway Queen Update

​Medway Queen re-opened to the public on Saturday 5th September with the Medway Queen Visitor Centre and ship tours conducted under Covid-19 restrictions.  The aim of course being to offer as normal a service as possible whilst keeping visitors and our volunteers safe.
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On the following two Saturdays (12th and 19th) we took part in the Heritage Open Days Festival when ship tours are free of charge and we rely on the shop and donation boxes for income.

 Despite a relatively short notice return to near normal service and with little advance publicity visitor numbers were encouraging, although not so high as to strain the necessary restrictive measures in place. The newly restored aft saloon is, naturally, a highlight of any visit at this time.

Link to Odd Stuff

Buy Dunkirk Book

In parallel with the physical Heritage Open Days presence we ran a daily blog on the website and FaceBook entitled “MQ Odd Stuff” with pictures of unusual items from the society’s and individual members’  collections. Each was presented with a brief description of its historical context. This material has now been collected into a single web page accessible from the History section of our website.
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Mail order sales have been busy throughout the summer with our Dunkirk promotional products proving very popular. The 00 gauge wagons are now almost all gone, N gauge wagons have sold about half the number produced in a very short time and we are about to open box 4 (of 7 boxes total) of the Dunkirk  book. If you haven’t got yours yet don’t delay!

So, what now? We will remain open on Saturdays for the remainder of the 2020 season – with the usual caveats about “circumstances beyond our control”. The board are looking at future restoration projects and their funding needs and the workshop volunteers are putting the final touches to a reconstructed Purser’s Cabin. In addition to all this the deck over-plating is complete and hull painting above the waterline by EAP Ltd. of Chatham is about to start. Despite the lockdown it has been a very busy year and 2021 promises to be equally so. As always more help is needed and anyone interested should come along on a Saturday and talk to the team.

PS Medway Queen is open to visitors on Saturdays from 11am to 4pm with last admission strictly at 3pm. The site closes after 3pm if no visitors are present.

Visit Details