Blog Archives

We Need More People! (Volunteers and Trustees)

30/8/2018

Photo credits:
Melissa Carr (above) George Painter (below)

SPREAD THE WORD. SEND THIS TO ANYONE YOU THINK MIGHT BE INTERESTED IN JOINING IN.

Medway Queen is berthed at Gillingham Pier in Kent (ME7 1RX) and open to the public on Saturdays from Easter to December while the restoration project continues on selected weekdays. The ship is in the care of a registered charity and all members of the project work on a voluntary basis. The hull has been completely rebuilt with funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund and the EU Regional Development Fund. Now we are in a fitting out phase and operating a heritage tourist attraction. We need to build the footfall on public open days and get the interior of the ship to a fit state to be hired out as a venue to raise more funds for the restoration. A Heritage Lottery Fund “Transformation Project” has enabled us to make great strides in respect of our organisation and now we need to build on that; to build our capability to support this famous historic ship.

We need more trustees and volunteers in technical, administrative and sales/marketing roles. We have teams of volunteers for woodwork, electrical and mechanical fitting, more hands will enable us to progress more quickly with the fitting out phase of Medway Queen’s restoration. We need to build up the Visitor Centre team to show people round the ship and to operate souvenir and coffee shops. More help means more time open to the public and more revenue for the restoration. There are administration, fundraising and marketing tasks and help is needed there too. The existing teams are stretched to the limit and extra pairs of hands - or fingers on keyboards - would be welcomed with open arms. If you think you can help us restore this famous old ship please get in touch.

The Medway Queen Preservation Society is managed by a Board of Trustees in accordance with Articles of Association approved by the Charity Commission. We not only need more people to support the board, as mentioned above, but additional board members are also needed. If being a trustee of this well-known heritage charity appeals to you get in touch. Being a Trustee does require a long term commitment to the restoration project and “work” of one sort or another between the monthly board meetings of course. But, as the ship progresses or other targets are met, there is a great deal of satisfaction in thinking “I contributed to that!”

Come and see us

The Ship and Visitor Centre will be open to the public on Saturdays until December 1st 2018. The site will then be closed to visitors for a few weeks, re-opening shortly before Easter for the 2019 season. To join our “happy band” of Volunteers and Trustees come and see us on a public day or get in touch by phone 01634 575717 or email [email protected]

The International N Gauge Show (TINGS) reminder

30/8/2018

On 8-9th September Reading Support Group will be at The International N Gauge Show near Leamington Spa with our full range of railway books, N gauge accessories and as much second hand N gauge material as we can scrounge! TINGS is now our biggest and busiest show of the year and preparation for the stand is in full swing. Come and see us if you are visiting the event.

Reading Support Group’s full diary for the coming months can be found on the website Events page. If you are at one of these shows come and see us!

Reading Support Group – Exhibition season starts this week

13/8/2018

The shows attended by the group’s stand tend to cluster in the spring and autumn and we are about to start the new season. Reading Support Group raises awareness of the Medway Queen restoration and raises funds through sales and donations
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We stock the range of MQPS souvenirs and books and, of course the model railway wagons. To go with the wagons we sell accessories for model makers in N and 00 gauges including Oxford Diecast vehicles and Kestrel kits for N gauge. We have the Dapol Kitmaster range for 00.

Our first show in the coming season is the Bristol Model Engineering Exhibition at Thornbury Leisure Centre on 17-19th August where we will have a limited range of our sales items, a MQ photo display and the ever popular “Garden Railway”.

On 8-9th September we’ll be at The International N Gauge Show near Leamington Spa with our full range of railway books, N gauge accessories and as much second hand N gauge material as we can scrounge!
Reading Support Group’s full diary for the coming months can be found on the website Events page. If you are at one of these shows come and see us!

See you there we hope

Richard Halton

August Fun Food & Craft - Success

7/8/2018

Last Saturday, August 4th saw another really successful "Fun Food and Craft Day" organised by Judith Maguire and her team down at Gillingham Pier. As well as the usual ship tours these events bring a variety of craft stalls and sideshows to our site to give visitors even more to do.

The tour guides were kept busy showing people around the Medway Queen and the Visitor Centre book and souvenir shop did well on top of the income from the event itself. A winning combination!

The photos by Judith show John and Barry Slayford inspecting the Medway Queen Carnival Float. Their father, Sgt. John Slayford RA was picked up from Dunkirk by Medway Queen on her last trip there, a Miss Teen Rochester contestant who supports the "Stop Bullying in Schools" campaign and other family activities.

The next Fun Food and Craft Day on site will be at the close of our 2018 season on Saturday December 1st. Come along and do some Christmas shopping! You might even see Santa!

Major Harold Slade

4/8/2018

Stories from Medway Queen's history in peace and war keep coming to our attention and we do all we can to record them as part of our ship's history. One such is Harold Slade who was rescued by HMS Medway Queen at Dunkirk.

Major Harold Slade went to France to join the British Expeditionary Force in January 1940. He was in the Royal Army Service Corps attached to the 44th Division and responsible for supplying provisions to the troops. His particular responsibilities included the petrol supply across Northern Europe and he was in charge of some 14,000 men. In May, as the BEF fell back towards the coast, it became increasingly difficult to find and transport the stores required and they had to rely on a mix of local purchases and requisition where purchase was not possible. Major Slade kept a diary of which his family have kindly provided excerpts recording his experiences following the German invasion on May 10th. He tells of falling back under fire, of roads clogged with refugees and expeditions to find food for the troops.

On May 28th he moved off in the direction of Dunkirk. He visited advanced divisional HQ with supplies early in the morning, assisted some refugees and motored to Bray docks. On the 29th he arrived on Dunkirk beach at 6.00am. There were tens of thousands of troops there. He arranged, late in evening, for all troops to embark but found they had been sent in direction of Dunkirk (?). The next day he saw troops off during the day hampered by a shortage of small boats. Little food was available. “Jerry shelled beach at 17.00hrs. No damage done by bombers. Spent night wading through water looking for boats.”

On the 31st May they found a boat at 3.00 am and boarded the Medway Queen with officers of signals and other regiments. They were landed in Ramsgate and moved on to Shrewsbury by train. “Great reception en route. With KSLI (Kings Shropshire Light Infantry)”.

On the 1st June he walked into Shrewsbury to the cinema where he saw “If I had a million”.

Major Slade was later promoted to Colonel and awarded the OBE

Relatives of Harold Slade visited Medway Queen recently on the occasion of Christine's (Harold's eldest daughter) 80th birthday. We are very grateful to Tim and Andrew Claringbull for allowing us to use their Grandpa’s story and the photographs. All images are their copyright.

Can you help us with another story? Email [email protected] please.