Blog Archives

Digital Roundup

10/6/2020

I thought the lock down would be time of relaxation - I was wrong!

The "Memories of Dunkirk" book was safely off to the printer and a chance to relax beckoned - or so I thought! It has turned out to be busier than ever with Medway Queen projects of one sort and another. Still, as one of Terry Pratchett's Disc World characters says, "I do this thing because I choose to do it". The object of the exercise was to maintain our profile and do what we could to make up for loss of revenue to the ship due to Covid-19.

So, let's summarise what's been going on digitally and give you the chance to browse some of the new stuff on the website. Alongside each item is a link button so you can get to it quickly as you work through this list.

The first enhancement was a "virtual tour" on the website so you could at least see the current state of the ship without physically visiting. The history pages of the website were upgraded and tidied - mostly with new illustrations.

A conversation with the team at Heritage Open Days led to the "History in Miniature" page on our website and the "8 Curious Objects" post on theirs.

We entered the 2020 Flagship contest with National Historic Ships UK and were delighted to be appointed Regional Flagship for the South East on the strength of our digital profile and other outreach work. As soon as we can we'll "hoist" the pennant on the website and, later, we'll do it properly on Medway Queen.

The Dunkirk anniversary period ran from 26th May to 4th June but we were unable to make the trip to Ramsgate as the events there had been cancelled. The Dunkirk Day By Day blog was initiated with daily updates and posts on Facebook and Twitter. That has now been reformatted within the history pages.

All of this has taken many days of work. Fund-raising is always on our minds, especially with regular income cut off, so, to supplement the other donation channels Richard has set up a Localgiving sponsorship page for the Dunkirk blog and other digital activities. That will be open for a while yet - PLEASE CONTRIBUTE if you can.

Thanks for your interest and support
Richard Halton 10 June 2020

Richard's Sponsorship Page

South East Regional Flagship

7/6/2020

"BZ" Signal received, 28-05-20 from Admiral Lord West.

Our President, Admiral Lord West, was congratulating the ship and her "crew" on attaining Regional Flagship status for the South East region with the naval signal "Bravo-Zulu".

More details are now available....

It is with great pleasure that we can report that Medway Queen has been appointed “South East Regional Flagship for 2020” by National Historic Ships UK. This puts us in great company with HMS Belfast as National Flagship and with the 3 other Regional Flagships: the tall ship Zebu, SS Explorer and MV Spartan.

National Historic Ships UK tailored the 2020 awards in response to the impact of Covid-19 on the maritime heritage sector. They made a significant change to the Flagship of the Year scheme which usually reflects the cruising programme or visitor numbers of each craft. In 2020 they welcomed applications for ‘virtual flagships’ in recognition of the fact that many historic vessels have had to cease operations and cancel or postpone events through circumstances beyond their control. The Flagship Awards provide an opportunity to demonstrate and celebrate the value of our sector during these exceptionally challenging times and the 2020 Flagships have been selected for their tenacity in continuing to raise their profile throughout the Covid-19 outbreak by online activities, social media, developing learning resources, offering virtual tours and other creative means.

Click to sponsor our digital activities

In Medway Queen’s case the website has gained significant new features and some other areas, such as the history pages, have been upgraded. The headline change is the addition of a “Virtual Tour” which enables visitors to get a sense of how the ship looks now and what is in store when they are able to visit in person once again. During an extended Dunkirk anniversary period (25th May to 5th June) a daily news-feed has posted details of HMS Medway Queen’s activities on that same day in 1940, and that will remain available on the site afterwards. This is set against the society’s proven track record in outreach (digital and physical) to all sectors of the community over many years. Two topical promotional projects, model railway wagons and a “Memories of Dunkirk” book, produced by our “Medway Queen West” support group, which were intended for sale at the Ramsgate commemorative events, have been switched to focus on sales via the website.

Medway Queen - Regional Flagship

1/6/2020

National Historic Ships have awarded PS Medway Queen “Regional Flagship of the year” status for the South East region. The award is recognition of our website and other online activities during the pandemic. More detail in a few days' time.

It should also be a spur to further improvement and we will be looking for a volunteer to help in this area. You don’t have to be very local; just be interested in our social media presence and able to contribute to that.

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