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06 June 2007

Research trip to Portsmouth

I'm in the middle of writing my second Master's thesis, and, twist my arm, I had to take a little research trip to Portsmouth. How I love a train journey to the English seaside!

I love Portsmouth. It's on the sea, and it has a long association with the Royal Navy. Sure, it's a bit of a rough port, but I love it. I love the contrast to London. And, I love the way that my research contacts have been so warm and generous with their time. I could not write my thesis without them.

My thesis is titled, "Uniform and Uniformity: The Development of British Royal Navy Sailor Uniform and Its Influence on Civilian Fashion in Victorian England, 1846-1901."

I love everything about this topic although I didn't particularly love my Master's course, the bulk of which was dedicated to the study of seventeenth century fashion.

I'm happy that my Master's coursework is finished, along with the required school trips, and I can now focus my energies on this sailor topic, something near and dear to my heart: researching this topic is nothing but fun for me. What's there not to like about sailors and sailor clothing and cool wooden ships?

Speaking of which, if you have the chance to take a trip to Portsmouth, do so. There are several beautifully restored, wooden ships on display in the harbor.

Here's the bow of the 18th century ship, the Victory. It's amazing. Like all the preserved ships in Portsmouth. The craftsmanship that went into these ships is just amazing. It's like the best, well-built wooden house you ever stepped foot in.

Walking around Portsmouth is fun, too. I love the different figureheads that are placed hither and thither-----on the actual ships, or not.

I happened to be in Portsmouth on the day that they were celebrating the 111th birthday of Henry Allingham, a WW1 veteran who enlisted in the Royal Naval Air Service in 1915. He really looked in fine shape. Which should be an inspiration to all of us.

There was quite the to-do, as there should be. He and his family were to have lunch aboard Nelson's ship, the HMS Victory. Now how nice is that? But that was not to happen until the fly-by (or flypast as they called it)----which, of course, I was expecting to resemble the only real fly-by I've ever seen: during half-time at the Army-Air Force football game at the Academy in Colorado Springs (near where my family lives).

Now that's a fly-by. At the Academy. Jets in formation. Old planes. New planes. A Stealth bomber. A B-52. You know, all those great icons of the American military.

At this big birthday party in Portsmouth, it was interesting to see the Royal Marine band come marching out. Their uniforms looked very similar to their American counterparts. Except, I saw something so very not politically correct. It was hilarious.

Check out the base drummer, with the t-i-g-e-r skin draped across his back. It's great. And I imagine that it's only a matter of time before the silly PETA people get involved and have that tiger skin banished. Which would be a shame, I think, because obviously it has some sort of significance. I do wonder what it could be. Do any of y'all know?