PLANS are under way to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the launch of the Cutty Sark, one of the most famous ships ever built in Scotland and the last surviving Victorian tea clipper in the world.
Though now berthed at Greenwich on the Thames where she is a major tourist attraction with her own stop on the Docklands Light Railway, the Cutty Sark was built in Dumbarton and launched from the Denny yard on November 22, 1869, having first started its life in the yard of Scott and Linton in the town.
The Royal Museums Greenwich is hosting the vast majority of events to mark Cutty Sark 150, as they are calling it, but Dumbarton will be the Scottish centre of attention for the anniversary.
The Scottish Maritime Museum, which has a centre in Dumbarton at the former Denny Experimental Tank, has confirmed that a new book centring on the fraught construction of the ship – Scott and Linton went bust and Denny’s had to take over the contract – will be among the initiatives to celebrate the anniversary.
David Mann, director of the Scottish Maritime Museum, said: “We do indeed plan to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the launch of the Cutty Sark, with two exciting initiatives.
“We will launch a children’s programme alongside Royal Museums Greenwich which will include a creative element resulting in displayed work over the anniversary.
“We will also publish a new book on the construction of the Cutty Sark – The Birth of an Icon: Scott and Linton and the Building of the Cutty Sark.”
West Dunbartonshire Council is joining in. A spokesperson said: “The Scottish Maritime Museum has been in touch regarding its plans to mark the anniversary. To complement their commemorations, we will be staging an exhibition in Dumbarton Library Heritage Centre which will showcase key objects from the council’s archive and museum collections including extracts from the log of the Cutty Sark’s maiden voyage from London to Shanghai in 1870, documents relating to the ship’s construction, photographs and a model of the Cutty Sark.”
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