Chepstow Archaeological Society - Newport Support Our Ship Campaign & Friends of the Newport Ship SOS

The Friends of the Newport ship are pleased to announce the launch of their new website. fons www.thenewportship.com fons

This CAS webpage is, effectively, a constantly evolving bulletin board. Apologies for the amateur presentation - pruning will be undertaken. Latest developments include Newport City Council bankrupting GGAT (Glamorgan Gwent Archaeological trust). There were some Council commitments to recover the bow & stern in May (extent and plans as yet unspecified.) The Friends handed their Bow & Stern petition over and are awaiting developments. We're running a certificate in Community Archaeology at UWCN and a Day School 10th May.

NEWPORT SUPPORT OUR SHIP CAMPAIGN - SAVE OUR STEM AND STERN

Roadside Lobbying © Ron McCormick - Photographs reproduced courtesy of the photographer

NEWPORT SUPPORT OUR SHIP CAMPAIGN - SAVE OUR STEM AND STERN

Friends of the
Newport Ship SOS

www.chepstow.org.uk

Chepstow Archaeological Society

www.chepstow.org.uk

Archaeologists wetting the timbers © Ron McCormick - Photographs reproduced courtesy of the photographer

Nearly 10,000 people took the opportunity to view the ship, many queuing for over an hour, during the public open evening Wednesday 14th August © Ron McCormick - Photographs reproduced courtesy of the photographer

Archaeologists planning the timbers © Ron McCormick - Photographs reproduced courtesy of the photographer

SAVE THE BOW AND STERN

The above diagram shows how much of the vessel will actually be lost.

The above diagram shows how much of the vessel will actually be lost. Please lobby for the stem and stern to be saved.

Social Evening 6.00pm Tuesday 14th January

Now that there is the opportunity to excavate the bow and the stern we are stepping up our campaign to save them. The national pub chain, J.D.Wetherspoon, is backing the campaign to save the bow and stern through its Newport - Cambrian Road branch, and have sponsored a T- shirt and social evening. On the 14th January Wetherspoons staff and members will wear this specially commissioned T-shirt to raise public awareness about the problem. Friends of the Newport Ship will meet at the pub in the evening - we hope you will join us for a drink, enjoy a meal and meet other members.

The Friends are currently lobbying for Bow and Stern recovery - we understand some exploratory work will be undertaken in January - however there is no public commitment to this yet. A truncated vessel will be a wasted opportunity.

Newport have a block grant from the National Assembly and can afford to pay for further archaeological work, including removing the bow and stern. Money has been saved because of the free storage for the ship offerred by Corus.

The stem & stern will complete the Ship, and may contain a name, figurehead or identifying feature. The stem section will tell how fast the vessel sailed, & might reveal where she was built. The stern will reveal the steering mechanism. To not recover them because the restored ship with stem and stern will not fit in the basement, as has been alleged, is literally "spoiling the ship for a ha'porth of tar". SAVE THE BOW AND STERN

Building work has recommenced on the orchestra pit basement and the coffer dam is scheduled to be removed later this month. This will enable the bow and stern to be excavated but Newport City Council has not yet made a firm commitment to recover these important sections of the ship.

In fact they have suggested that the bow and stern have been destroyed at some time in the past and there is little left to recover. How they can possibly know this without digging is beyond comprehension - but then we should remember that it is the same Council that originally stated that the ship timbers were not important and would be buried again!

On the other hand all the archaeological experts claim that there are bound to be significant timbers remaining outside the coffer dam. There is speculation that the City Council may be trying to avoid further delays to the building programme and the associated costs.

We are again asking members to write letters to the City Council, Assembly Members and the Newspapers to encourage the Council to make that little extra effort and save the whole ship. We hope we can count on your support in this matter.

Attached is a statement about the situation and a sample letter which you are free to use as it is or amend to better express your personal view. This may be personalised.
sosletter.pdf (Adobe) added 12th January 2003

sosletter.doc (Word) added 12th January 2003

A list of council members, MPs and Assembly Members is also attached. (These are attached in 2 file formats Acrobat PDF and MS Word.doc)
address.pdf (Adobe) added 12th January 2003

address.doc (Word) added 12th January 2003

A copy of the T-shirt image is also attached.
sosshirt.pdf (Adobe) added 12th January 2003

If you do not have Acrobat Reader installed can get a free download from:
www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep.html

Why not encourage your personal contacts to also send an Email to one or more on the list? The more correspondence we can generate in the next few weeks the greater the pressure and the more likely it is that the council will eventually submit to public opinion.
Act now and help save the bow and stern. Thanks for your support and we hope to see you Tuesday evening
The Friends of Newport Ship SOS has now been formally launched. Double Click to open or download

SOSMembersh.pdf (Adobe) added 31st August 2002

THE MIDDLE SECTION OF THE SHIP IS NOW TO BE RECOVERED TO CORUS 23.VIII.02

Friday 23rd August. 24/7 vigil continues. According to the BBC, a public announcement is planned for today. SOS are ready with an injunction, should the decision be unacceptable.

VESSEL APPARENTLY TO BE RECOVERED AND CONSERVED - BUT SEE ABOVE

SOS present petition to Jenny Randerson at the Welsh Assembly.
SOS will now become the Support Our Ship Group - friends of the Ship.
The people of Newport and their local, national and international supporters have ensured the Ship will be saved in principle.

THANK YOU.

For more links please see CBA SOS Newport website

Thursday 22nd August. 24/7 vigil continues. No public announcements yet. Campaign Group Meeting to decide strategy.

Wednesday 21st August. 24/7 vigil continues. More than 20 local yachts and small boats cruise past the Ship ISCA, saluting their ancestor. Extensive National TV and Press coverage. OTT's mobile unit and Janeiro play live gig. It is understood that, due to popular demand, proposals for further recovery and conservation have been submitted by Newport City Council to the Welsh Assembly. No news on whether the Ship is to be Saved. Despite requests from SoS and GGAT there will be no public access Wednesday 21st and currently no public access Bank Holiday Monday - please ring Newport Civic Centre before travelling. Western Mail and South Wales Argus publish articles stating that despite rumours, there has been no announcement that the ship will be saved.

Tuesday 20th August. 24/7 vigil continues. Janeiro compose protest song for Wednesday night. Campaign Group Meeting to decide strategy.

Monday 19th August. 24/7 vigil continues. Demonstration attempts to present petition to Newport City Council. OTT, Market St. Newport host charity event for SOS, Monday Night.

Sunday 18th August. 24/7 vigil continues. SOS lobby at UK Cycling Championships in Newport. 6,000 signatures. 90% of passing traffic sounds horn.

Diverse Fact. Famous Newport TJs is supporting the campaign and welcoming campaigners, supporters and diggers.

Saturday 17th August. 24/7 vigil continues. Wales Assembly pledges support, but repeat the fantasy £20M estimate for a Maritime Museum. The Boat will still be destroyed on 27th August.

SOS are only asking it be saved.

Diverse Fact. Archaeologists are being stopped on trains and local stations after being recognised from TV and site. Passers by are quizzing them on Ship - amazing interest. The SOS Campaign is a phenomenon that will be studied in years to come - all walks of the community, and all races are inspired by Our Ship.

Saturday 17th August. 24/7 vigil continues. Guardian takes photos. Kevnian, Newport's own Bard of the Buses is appointed the official Ship's Laureate.

SAVE IT FOR THE SAKE OF THE CITY

If you see the ship and feel the presence of destiny,
You know in your heart you don't want to let go.

Like the treasure you have found, the Ship is our City,
It is it's pleasure you don't want to let go.

Friday 16th August. 24/7 vigil starts. Immense support from local people. Motorists, taxis, lorry drivers, emergency vehicles & police sound their horns and sirens every time they drive past.

Thursday 15th August. Campaign Group Meeting to decide strategy.

Wednesday 14th August. 10,000 people see ship. 250 people attend public meeting in the Dolman Theatre. CBA and the Society for Nautical Research attend in support

Rosemary Butler AM supports the Ship at public meeting © Ron McCormick - Photographs reproduced courtesy of the photographer

Monday 12th August. The Newport Save Our Ship (SOS) Campaign Starts. SOS Campaign names Ship "The ISCA"

CAS Pages

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What's Going On ?

Please contact Support Our Ship SoS@chepstow.org.uk

C.A.S are fully involved in this campaign. The C.B.A are hosting a formal website and co-ordinating the external PR. The SOS Newport site and Campaign Group are handling local issues.

It had been formally announced that Newport City Council would destroy the substantial remains of a unique 25m medieval ship on the 27th August 2002, preserving less than 3%.

The vessel answers a number of questions on the evolutionary step between a long ship and a later trading caravel, and would have been typical of North European vessels upon which commerce relied, and which explored the Americas. Many of our great trading ports feature this type of vessel on their seals, and the ship is of International interest. In the Council Chair’s own words "the ship is magnificent", and is the only extant example of an armed merchantman of this period. It has been dated to winter of 1465 and apparently was recently returned from Portugal, filled with pottery and large lumps of cork bark in the bilges. It has decking and superstructure still visible and was probably laid up for a refit and then abandoned. It is in an excellent state of preservation and since it is on land is highly suitable for recovery, and expert opinion is that its temporary preservation would cost less than £100k. Less than 3% of the ship was to be preserved – on the 27th August recording was to cease and the remains destroyed to make way for a new Arts Centre.

The Newport Save Our Ship Campaign queried the proposed destruction, and is supported by a number of eminent archaeologists, marine historians and yachtsmen.

SOS sought to draw this to the attention of the British public. A preserved ship would be an invaluable symbol of Britain’s marine heritage, and the tourism and educational potential of this ship considerable, as important as the Vasa or Mary Rose.

The Vessel's loss would have been a complete act of vandalism. Before the campaign the bulldozers and diggers were to go in after the Bank Holiday on 27th August 2002.

Now the Campaign to preseve the bow and stern continues.....

For Support Our Ship please contact SoS@chepstow.org.uk

Links

Local SoS Page

http://www.saveourship.org.uk

CBA
CBA SOS Newport Site
http://www.britarch.ac.uk/sosnewport

Key Contacts

SOS Newport Command Centre
01633 251665
Charles Ferris 01633 250148
07957 961864 (mobile)
Jan Preece - Pill Heritage Centre
01633 244893
S.C.Rutherford 01633 273014
07796 955834 (mobile)

GGAT

http://www.ggat.org.uk/Ship/Shiparticle.htm

Wetting the timbers of the ship to help preserve it during archaeological investigation. © Ron McCormick - Photographs reproduced courtesy of the photographer

Jean Gray and Sherry Parker hold a vigil at the excavation site and receive noisy support from drivers during the Newport morning rush hour. Friday 16th August 2002. © Ron McCormick - Photographs reproduced courtesy of the photographer

An example of Popular Poetry inspired by the campaign

S.O.S.

Oh! Dear, what can the matter be?
Newport Council's so full of apathy
Where were they from Sunday to Saturday?
On the campaign for the Boat!

"We are doing all that we can", they say
(Just as long as we do not have to pay),
But where¹s the proof as we pass through another day?
They¹d like to bury our Boat!

Archaeologists working on the site
Would be willing to work through the day and night
With help from the "tooters" and plenty of good floodlight
In order to rescue the Boat.

But they have been told "your contracts will end next week"
So get off site more work elsewhere you must seek.
This leaves the campaign stranded right up the muddy creek,
Just like our precious old Boat!

Why is it that the Council just cannot see
That discovering the ship's such a great opportunity
A gift of a find that's been given to us for free!
They just want to submerge the Boat!

The art centre building must be kept right on board
After the boat has been lifted and safely stored
Then the campaigners can loudly applaud
And everyone can see the Boat!

S.O.S. Volunteers are all fighting to "Save our Ship"
So, Council, why don¹t you please try and get a grip?
We¹re working without you but with you would be so hip -
We could all rescue our Boat!

So, Harry Jones, please sit up and take some note
The people of Newport won¹t give another vote
To councillors who will not some time at least devote
To helping to salvage the Boat!

Newport Maryrose 22nd August 2002

George Lambrick, CBA Director addressing the meeting © Ron McCormick - Photographs reproduced courtesy of the photographer

NEWPORT SAVE OUR SHIP |

LINKS |

NEWPORT SUPPORT OUR STEM & STERN CAMPAIGN

TO CONTACT US:
email: secretary@chepstow.org.uk
Jan Adams,
Hon. Secretary, C.A.S.,
Coombe Farm,
Shirenewton, Chepstow
NP16 6LN UK

C.A.S. Director of Archaeology: director@chepstow.org.uk
C.A.S. Chairman: sos@chepstow.org.uk.
C.A.S. Editor: editor@chepstow.org.uk.