All aboard the Titanic

'Through the Gaps' takes time out to visit the National Maritime Museum Cornwall - though not so much a museum on the grand lines of its parent at Greenwich or other classic museums like the V&A, the Falmouth sibling does put on themed exhibitions and supports talks and workshops on maritime related subjects. The current exhibition would be more accurately described as a look at the White Star Line and its fleet of trans-oceanic liners, with its most famous being the unsinkable that sank - the Titanic - given that most relics associated with that ship are still on the seabed....

a nice touch, once you have paid £8.50 for an adult ticket (which then allows for any number of free visits in the same year :-), is the facsimile boarding pass....

complete with the details of a genuine passenger or crew member of the day - at the end of the tour you get the chance to see if you were one of the lucky survivors by checking your allotted name off against the passenger or crew list that records your fate - there is a direct connection with the ill-fated ship in Newlyn, Nigel 'Rockets' Richards' father, George Richards (also a fisherman), was a survivor then aged 10 months, Nigel (seen here doing his own version of Leonardo DeCaprio) currently crews on the beamer George Johannes, there is a chance to hear the record voice of his grandmother relating her experience of the event that shook the maritime world on the 14th April 1912 - the museum asked for contributions from local people with connections to the sinking - go to this page and search for the word 'Titanic' and you will see details of another survivor who emigrated - along with more details here from the West Briton of the day......

on such a chilly day it was good to be inside and looking out......

as with most significant projects in the Duchy, a member of the Royal Family had the honour of opening for business back in 1999.....

the unmistakable funnel arrangement of the Titanic greets visitors in the entrance.....

one excellent permanent feature of the museum is the remotely controlled sailboat tank where you can master sailing a yacht through varying wind strengths in order to navigate your way around a series of buoys and hazards.......

visit over, now time to head for Harvey's Wharf, the nearest restaurant alongside the museum and enjoy a range of local fish with superb views across the harbour waters and out to Carrick Roads where you can catch pleaure craft and huge commercial shipping (in red behind the letter 'A') movements from the comfort and warmth of your seat.....

after a quiet drink in the bar area, a table was taken at the far end of the restaurant, a delicious salt cod fishcake starter with rhubarb based compote set the tone for the rest of the meal.....

in surroundings that echo the interior of a luxury liner's dining room, much in keeping with the White Star's, Honour and Glory exhibition next door.....

with a range of intimate or open eating tables throughout, the restaurant melds each section together with wavy contours on walls, fixtures and fittings....

and, a nice touch for those who like to see what they are eating, on ice and in view of the open kitchen, the evening's selection of haddock, hake, whole lemon and monk fillets ready for the pot....