Museum crew sets sail to get vintage vessels ship shape

It is one of a number of historic model ships currently being assessed and cleaned at Leeds Industrial Museum during a comprehensive audit of the collection.

Complete with an elaborate figurehead, planked deck and carved helm with a steering gear and compass box, the bone model dates from the early 19^th century, and is believed to be an example of the type carved by French captives who were held in British prisons and aboard ships.

During the Napoleonic Wars, which took place from 1792 until 1815, French prisoners whiled away the hours of incarceration by painstakingly fashioning such bone and ivory ship models from whatever materials they had at their disposal.

Usually using leftover bone, the prisoners were also known to employ hair, clothing and jewellery. It normally took a prisoner years to complete a single model.

Other ships which are part of the museum collection include a replica of the “cursed” wool clipper Cromdale, built in Glasgow in 1891.

After narrowly escaping disaster when her maiden voyage was hit by freak, 300ft high icebergs, she later ran aground in thick fog, ploughing into cliffs off the coast of Cornwall, where her wreck is still visible today.

The fateful end of Cromdale was the last misadventure in what had been a disastrous final trip, where several members of the crew died, including one who was reportedly eaten by a shark in Montevideo Bay.

Visitors can now see the Cromdale replica on display in Engineery, an exhibition which looks at the history of engineering and inventors.

Also part of the collection is a scale replica of famed cruise liner the RMS Queen Elizabeth. More than a metre-and-a-half long, the model is a tribute to the much larger original, which was once the biggest passenger ship ever built at more than a thousand feet in length.

Made in Clydebank, Scotland, and launched in 1938, the full-sized ship was operated by Cunard Line and provided a weekly transatlantic service between Southampton and New York City.

John McGoldrick, Leeds Museums and Galleries’ curator of industrial history, said: “The art of making model ships has existed for centuries and is as old as shipbuilding itself. These remarkable models have been made for purposes including testing out new technology, paying tribute to impressive feats of maritime engineering or simply as a popular hobby.

“Each of the model ships in our collection has also been made at a unique and very different moment in history, but what unites them is the ingenuity and attention to detail which has gone into capturing each minute feature.

“That level of dedication and commitment speaks volumes about how impressive these ships were and much they inspired and motivated each model maker to reach such incredible feats of creativity.”

Model ships also collected and stored at the museum include a twin-masted steamer and a steam sailing vessel painted in a diorama alongside a lighthouse and harbour wall.

The models are among an array of vintage machinery stored, conserved and displayed at the museum, which was itself once the world’s largest woollen mill.

Councillor Salma Arif, Leeds City Council’s executive member for adult social care, active lifestyles and culture, said: “The incredible variety of stories waiting to be discovered in the Leeds Museums and Galleries collection is astonishing and it’s also fascinating to see so many different aspects of local, national and international history captured and preserved.

“Leeds occupies a hugely important and unique place in the nation’s industrial heritage, so it’s fitting that these pieces of that story have a home here in our city which can be enjoyed by visitors of all ages.”

For more information about Leeds Industrial Museum including opening hours and entry fees, visit: Leeds Industrial Museum at Armley Mills | Leeds Museums and Galleries | Days out and exhibitions

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