Guide to Britain's Maritime Past

From the earliest times, Britain has been a nation of seafarers and the British coastline is rich in sites that preserve relics and memories of our maritime heritage, from Nelson's Victory in Portsmouth harbour or the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich to tiny Skara Brae on Orkney, where fishermen still continue an industry that began over 4000 years ago. This book provides the visitor with a comprehensive guide to all the significant sites, with full information on how to get there, admission prices, access hours as well as descriptions of what is to be seen and the historical background to the exhibits. The sites covered include museums dedicated to everything from shipbuilding to smuggling, historic ships, lighthouses and ports, including many unique exhibits such as the Valhalla Figurehead Museum at Tresco in Cornwall or Western Approaches in Liverpool, where visitors can see the rooms from which the Battle of the Atlantic was controlled during World War II.
Arranged in nine chapters which follow the coast of Britain round from Bristol on the Severn to Monmouth in South Wales, with maps showing the location of each site in relation to major roads and towns, and illustrated with colour photographs, this "Guide" should enable readers to discover many interesting places to visit on familiar stretches of the coast as well as directing holidaymakers and tourists to the most important sites in an unfamiliar part of the country. In addition to the individual entries for specific sites, there are also feature spreads on more general topics such as smugglers and wreckers, and the great Elizabethan adventurers and local specialities like the Cinque Ports or the Thames barge. Information is also provided on a number of historic ships which regularly sail around British ports offering visitors the opportunity to experience for themselves what it was like to put to sea under sail or power.