Medway Queen Preservation Society

Christmas cards now online

28/10/2020

Medway Queen Christmas cards are now available online from our website shop, and of course to visitors at the Medway Queen Visitor Centre on Gillingham Pier. Price held at £6 for a pack of 10 cards.

Enter Shop

The commemorative book "HMS Medway Queen Memories of Dunkirk" has also been added to the online shop and is available with our other products when you get round to your Christmas shopping.

The railway wagons are also available to personal customers at Gillingham Pier but mail order of those is still handled by Medway Queen - West.

N Gauge wagons

00 Gauge wagons

Busy Day!

20/10/2020

Packing the “virtual” AGM, a Trustee Board meeting and ceremonial unfurling of the Regional Flagship Pennant into one day was always going to need a tight schedule, but it worked. We got away with it! The advantage being that it minimised travel for those board members who live some distance away.

The day started at 10.30 with the AGM; possibly better described as “postal” rather than “virtual”, thanks to Covid-19. The resolutions had all been circulated in Full Ahead with a postal voting form but it seemed strange to be doing it this way instead of a friendly chat and the formal meeting on board the ship. A more in-depth report will appear in the next Full Ahead but, in summary, the resolutions put before the members were passed, although Laurie Parsons withdrew his nomination to the Trustees some weeks before the meeting. The annual report was accepted and auditors re-appointed. Richard Halton and Bob Stokes were both unanimously re-elected to the board. We moved on to regular Trustee Board discussions and waded through the usual reports and other matters; finishing, for once, in good time; before 1 o’clock. Time for a much needed cuppa, and a sandwich from the nearby superstore.

Photos: Bob Wilde and Richard Halton

Now for the highlight of the day. We wanted to make a ceremony of hoisting the pennant, signifying Medway Queen’s appointment as National Historic Ships Regional Flagship 2020 for the South East, but had to plan something that would not contravene the Covid restrictions and would not endanger our volunteers or members of the public. We went ahead with just a couple of invited guests and the press/TV news but, unfortunately no members of the public. Our volunteers who work so hard on every aspect of the restoration project were able to be there – it was their day!

Our President, Admiral Lord West and the Mayor of Medway, Cllr. Habib Tejan, arrived exactly on time, the weather cooperated (for a change) and a small party proceeded on board. The tide was rising and the NHS-UK ensign flew proudly at the stern of the ship. The TV crew from ITV Meridian were ready and Lord West hoisted the pennant on the jack staff at the bow and pulled the lanyard to unfurl it. Cameras clicked and whirred and we all breathed a sigh of relief! Lord West said a few words and then he and Mayor Tejan were conducted round the ship by Pam Bathurst and Noreen Chambers, who now combines volunteering on Saturdays with being a Vice President. They inspected the Aft Saloon and the Engine room before proceeding back to the Visitor Centre for tea and biscuits. All masked and distanced as necessary of course.

Thanks to Pam’s careful planning and hard work preparing for the day all went as it should. We must thank her and the volunteers for their efforts in preparation and Lord West and Mayor Tejan for coming along to make the day special.

Model Ships for Sale

28/9/2020

A Medway Queen member has generously donated a collection of 1/1250 scale model warships for sale in aid of Medway Queen's restoration.

Medway Queen West have 29 of these beautifully detailed Atlas Editions models for sale. Each is a full hull model mounted on a named display stand. They include warships from the Royal Navy, United States Navy, Kriegsmarine and Imperial Japanese Navy. Each comes securely boxed in its original packaging.

Condition: Ships and models are in good secondhand condition. Those that I have looked at appear undamaged. A few of the boxes have the ship name hand written on them.

Price: A well known online auction shows them on offer at up to £40 each with P&P although many are cheaper. A reasonable start point is to ask for offers of at least £10 per model plus postage at cost. All proceeds will go to Medway Queen as usual.

Models Available:
RN: Repulse, Ramilies, Rodney, Barham, Anson, Warspite, Prince of Wales, Hood, Vanguard, Exeter, Duke of York, Ark Royal,King George V.
USN: Lexington, Hornet, Massachusetts, Arizona, Missouri.
IJN: Kirishima, Yamato.
KM: Tirpitz, Graf Spee, Scharnhorst, Lutzow, Admiral Scheer, Prinz Eugen, Bismark, Gneisenau.
RM: Roma

Details: Email richardhalton1502@gmail.com for more information. All sales on a "first come, first served" basis as we only have one of each model available. Inspection and collection from us in the Wootton Bassett/Swindon area is possible, they can be left at Gillingham Pier for collection on a Saturday or we'll make other arrangements where convenient.

Medway Queen Update

25/9/2020

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.

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.

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

MQ Odd Stuff - Day 10

20/9/2020

The last day of the Heritage Open days Festival and our last "Odd Stuff" post.

Artist Harley Crossley allowed himself to be talked into producing his first Medway Queen painting, to be raffled in aid of society funds, many years ago now. Harley developed an interest in the ship and painted her again when the hull was being rebuilt in the Albion Dock in Bristol.

Sadly, Harley is no longer with us, otherwise I'm sure he would be busy painting another masterpiece in the newly restored aft saloon.

Originals in private collections.

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Christmas cards now online

Busy Day!

Model Ships for Sale

Medway Queen Update

MQ Odd Stuff - Day 10

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