Boston was a hub of revolutionary activity in the mid to late eighteenth century. As one of the biggest port cities in North America, Boston became an integral part of the social, economic and political fabric of the British colonies. Hence, when various acts of Parliament undermined the liberty and integrity of colonists, the reaction was heard loudest in Boston.
The port city was host to various major historic events that triggered the American Revolution. In 1770, a few years after the imposition of the Stamp Act and Townshend Duties, a detachment of redcoats accosted by a large crowd in the city opened fire and killed five protestors whilst injuring six others. The Boston Massacre, as it became known, represented to many the inevitable start of a revolution.
Yet by far the most important historic event in the city’s history occurred in Boston Harbour three years later.
In December 1773 the most famous and overt display of anger and resistance to the British took place. A group of colonists led by Samuel Adams hopped aboard the East India Company trade vessel Dartmouth and poured 342 chests of tea (worth close to $2,000,000 in today’s currency) of British tea into the sea.
This act – now known as the ‘Boston Tea Party’, is often cited as a direct cause of the War of Independence and remains arguably the most important historic event in patriotic American folklore.
The Boston Tea Party Museum features reenactments of the event in 1773, a documentary, and a number of interactive exhibits.
There are 7 ‘Museum Experiences’ in total, ranging from the ‘Meeting House’, where you’ll start your journey to learning about the “single most important event leading up to the American Revolution” to the ‘Tea Party Ships’ where you’ll be able to step in the shoes of the revolutionaries and throw tea into the very same body of water where the Boston Tea Party took place over 240 years ago.
The museum features two replica ships of the period, Eleanor and Beaver. Additionally, the museum possesses one of two known tea chests from the original event, part of its permanent collection.
The Boston Tea Party Museum is located on the Congress Street Bridge in Boston Harbour.
If travelling by car visitors can reserve a parking spot by going to the Boston Tea Party Ships and Museum SpotHero Parking Page where they can book a spot with rates up to 50% off drive-up.
If travelling via Subway, the closest stations are Aquarium and Downtown Crossing. The nearest tram stop is South Station, which is roughly a 7 minute walk away.
]]>In 1947, the Roman commercial warehouses were discovered during the reconstruction of the old quarters destroyed by the German occupiers. Through the intervention of Fernand Benoit, historian and renowned archaeologist, a part of these relics could be kept on-site.
Opened in 1963 and renovated in 1987, the Museum presents 30 dolia or large jars of Roman times. Inside of the Park of the dolia, you can find walls and wells of the medieval houses.
One of the main exhibits is the set of ceramic jugs or “dolia” which were probably made in the Roman warehouse. Visitors can also see the remains of some other buildings and homes from this period.
Amongst its collection, the Roman Docks Museum shows the ruins of this warehouse and archaeological finds from within the site as well as from underwater excavations. All of these exhibits together portray the Marseille’s ancient port as a thriving centre of commerce.
The exhibits at the Roman Docks Museum are not only Roman, but also Greek in origin, reflecting the fact that Marseille was first a Greek settlement before being taken by the Romans in the first century BC. These exhibits provide a revealing insight into the different kinds of merchandise that passed through the city.
For instance, you can see an amphora – the ancient Greek two-handled jar – as well as details of how it was made. Moreover, pieces of wreckage, once buried in the depths beyond the harbor, have now been raised for display.
The address of the museum is 28 Place Vivaux, 13002 Marseille, France. It is located on the ruins of an ancient Roman warehouse located between the Marseille City Hall and the Marseille Cathedral. If travelling via public transport, you can take the metro and exit at Métro Vieux Port. From here, the Roman Docks Museum is only a 10 minute walk away along the harbour.
]]>For the last 500 years, the dockyard at Portsmouth has been one of England’s most important assets. For much of this period it was first among the family of Royal Dockyards, without which the Royal Navy could not have existed.
In 1194, King Richard I first granted Portsmouth its first Royal Charter and ordered the construction of a dockyard. 300 years later, King Henry VII ordered the construction of the world’s first dry dock in Portsmouth – a hugely significant moment in naval history.
The first warship built here was the Sweepstake of 1497 and of more significance was the carrack Mary Rose of 1509. Ships from Portsmouth were a key part of the fleet that drove off the Spanish Armada in 1588.
As France began to pose more of a military threat to England, the strategic importance of Portsmouth grew. In 1689, Parliament ordered a new dry dock to be built there, large enough to accommodate the latest first-rate and second-rate ships of the line (which were too big for the existing docks).
Between 1750 and 1850 Portsmouth’s dockyard reached the zenith of its importance due to the continuous wars during the Age of Revolution. In this period the dockyards storehouses, residences and rope house were built. In 1802 the block mills were opened, this was a factory that mass-produced ship pulley blocks. The block mills used machinery designed by Marc Brunel, Isambard Kingdom Brunel‘s father.
By the turn of the 19th century, the Royal Navy had 684 ships and the Dockyard was the largest industrial complex in the world. In 1805 Horatio Nelson toured the newly opened block mills before embarking from Portsmouth on HMS Victory, leaving Britain for the last time before his death at the Battle of Trafalgar.
Since then, Portsmouth has remained a vital naval port in Britain. Throughout the First and Second World Wars, the naval base continued to be the hub of Britain’s naval defence against invasion. The base itself was the headquarters and main departure point for the military and naval units destined for Sword Beach on the Normandy coast as a part of Operation Overlord and the D-Day landings on 6 June 1944.
During the Second World War Portsmouth became the target of bombing attacks due to its significance of being home to the Royal Navy. In 1984 the Royal Dockyard lost the title of Royal Dockyard and became known as a Naval Base.
Housing the Royal Navy Museum and still part of an active naval base, Portsmouth Historic Dockyard today offers visitors a great insight into the British navy, both its past and present. The dockyard’s three main attractions are:
Vice Admiral Lord Nelson’s flagship and the site where this heroic figure died.
At one time the British Navy’s most advanced warship, HMS Warrior is sole surviving member of Queen Victoria’s Black Battle Fleet.
A sixteenth century warship favoured by King Henry VIII, sunk in 1545 and recovered in 1982. Currently not viewable, but the Mary Rose Museum is still open housing finds from the wreckage.
One of the Britain’s foremost maritime museums and the only one to focus on the navy’s ships and serving members. Includes The Trafalgar Experience exhibit and The Nelson Gallery.
Portsmouth Historic Dockyard is less than 5 miles from Junction 12 of the M27. From here follow the brown and white signs to ‘Historic Dockyard’ which will lead you to our official 295 space car park which is located only 400 yards from the entrance at Victory Gate. If this car park is full there are others within close proximity at Gunwharf Quays and Havant Street.
If travelling via public transport, South Western Railway run frequent trains from London Waterloo to Portsmouth Harbour, with a journey time of only 90 minutes. There are also regular services to and from Southampton Central with links to the South West and the West country. Portsmouth Harbour train station is only 200 yards from the entrance to Portsmouth Historic Dockyard.
Many local and regional bus services stop at the Hard Interchange (adjacent to Portsmouth Historic Dockyard entrance).
]]>Liverpool’s docks dominated global trade by the late 18th and early 19th century. During much of the 18th century Liverpool was Britain’s main slaving port. Between 1700 and 1807, ships from Liverpool carried about 1.5 million Africans across the Atlantic in conditions of great cruelty.
The sugar, rum, tobacco that was produced in the Americas was transported and stored in the large warehouses located on Liverpool’s Waterfront such as those that can be seen all around Albert Dock to this day.
Royal Albert Dock itself, designed by Jesse Hartley and Philip Hardwick, was only oficially opened in 1846, by HRH Prince Albert himself. The Dock was extremely innovative at the time in that it changed the way the docks worked in Liverpool forever.
Its warehouses were fireproof and secure; traders could do deals before their import taxes were due and hydraulic cranes hauled heavy cargoes across the flagstones. With vast warehouses built directly on its quaysides to securely store goods arriving from across the globe, the speed with which ships unloaded and turned around was cut in half.
The coming of steamships meant that many vessels were simply too big to sail in and out of the Albert Dock. However, during the Second World War, the Dock again became a hive of activity on the Mersey. It teemed with hundreds of small warships, submarines, landing craft and merchant ships. At no time in its history had so many ships berthed at Albert Dock.
The bustling docks and their prized cargoes soon became a target for German bombers. Royal Albert Dock was battered with during the 1941 Blitz as the German Air Force looked to impede and demobilise Britain’s war effort.
To this day the Mersey continues to play a central role in the city of Liverpool’s cultural life, with the Dock an integral part of the city’s World Heritage waterfront.
Royal Albert Dock is a prime location to visit whilst in Liverpool, with so many attractions on offer. Visitors can take advantage of the impressive retail and leisure offering at the Dock, as well as multiple historical museums such as the International Slavery Museum, Beatles Museum and the Merseyside Maritime Museum.
Art lovers will also find much to be enamoured by with Tate Liverpool Art Gallery located quayside and multiple sculptures situated around the dock.
There are multiple restaurants and bars by the dock, with a variety of styles and cuisines on offer.
Royal Albert Dock and cannot be missed when arriving at Liverpool’s Waterfront. The site is roughly a 15-minute walk from Liverpool Central Station. There is also a very conveniently placed car park, on the Britannia side of the Dock.
]]>Established during the mid-16th century, the dockyard has used the same type of rope-making for 400 years and visitors can see the continuing rope-craft everyday.
Following the Protestant Reformation, Britain’s relationships with Catholic Europe deteriorated, demanding new defences. The Chatham Dockyard was established in 1567, with housing for the workers and a forge for anchor-making quickly being built.
Under the Tudors, the dockyard was developed and saw numerous royal visits, but it was in the early 17th century that the Government invested in the repair and fitting of warships there.
The Ropery was built in 1728 and later extended in 1812, consisting of Hemp Houses, Yarn Houses and double Rope House. There was also a Hatchelling House – the first step in rope-making where hemp was combined before spinning.
The ropewalk was 346 metres long and at the time of construction, was the longest brick building in Europe, and was room to make a 300 metre rope by hand as steam-power was only introduced to the Ropery in 1836.
The dockyard closed in 1984, yet a remaining 84 acres of Georgian dockyard were maintained by a historic trust and opened to the public.
Today, Chatham’s dockyard is the most complete dockyard dating back to the age of sail in the world. You can take a Victorian Ropery Tour, learning the ropes with a 1875 foreman. Between Mondays and Friday at 12.15pm you can see a rope-making demonstration in the same way it was done 400 years ago.
Temporary exhibitions and events include ‘Call the Midwife’ filming location tours, the Grain – Estuary Festival and displays of historic steam locomotives. A particular highlight is an exhibition exploring the untold stories of the women that worked in the dockyard.
From London, the Ropery at Chatham Dockyard is a 2 hour drive away via the A2. There is plenty of parking on-site. Otherwise, you can get the southeastern train to Faversham from St Pancras, stopping at Chatham Station and then getting the 101 bus to Gillingham that stops at the dockyard main gate.
]]>Prior to independence, Brotain’s thirteen North American colonies enjoyed protection from pirates and foreign navies under the British Royal Navy. Once the United States gained its independence after the American Revolution, however, the young nation needed to protect itself.
In 1794, Congress authorized the construction of the first six warships to comprise the new United States Navy. Each of the six vessles were built at various ports along the eastern coast.
USS Constitution was built at Hartt’s shipyard in the North End of Boston. Construction began in 1794 and Constitution launched on the 21 October, 1797. She went on her first cruise the next year as the Quasi-War with France emerged. Later she served in engagements with pirates off the Barbary coast in the Mediterranean.
The greatest glory for the ship came during the War of 1812. USS Constitution’s crew defeated four British frigates during three separate engagements. She earned the nickname “Old Ironsides” because the cannon fire from enemy ships seemed as if they couldn’t penetrate her strong oak hull.
Before and after these voyages, Constitution had to undergo constant repairs and refits. Most of that work throughout her service was here in Boston at the Charlestown Navy Yard.
Established in 1800, the yard was one of six commissioned for the purpose of keeping the Navy afloat. After over 200 years in the Navy, Constitution still calls Charlestown home and relies on the same facilities for maintenance and repair.
Naval officers and crew still serve aboard USS Constitution to this day. The Navy operates the ship as a historic site in cooperation with the National Park Service.
The Naval History and Heritage Command, Detachment Boston, is housed in Building 24 and is responsible for the maintenance, repair and restoration of USS Constitution at the Navy Yard.
Across the pier from Constitution in Building 22 is the USS Constitution Museum. The Museum serves as the memory and educational voice of USS Constitution and provides engaging and hands-on experiences for all visitors.
Located right next to Boston National Historic Park, The USS Constitution Museum does not have a physical street address. For this reason, the museum’s webiste recommends entering in the Nautica Parking Garage into GPS Navigation.
If travelling to the museum via the Subway to reach the Charlestown Navy Yard, the closest stops are Bunker Hill Community College (Orange Line) and North Station (Green Line).
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Prior to both world wars, a resort was established on the Westerplatte peninsula around 1830, which had a beach, a forested park, an ocean-side bath complex and health spa facilities.
On 14 March 1924, Poland was awarded Westerplatte as a location for bringing in military equipment and ammunition from abroad (Polish Military Transit Depot). Inaugurated on 11 Novemeber 1925, over the next 14 years Westerplatte grew from a depot with an 88-man attachment into a huge defensive fort and was considered so strategically important to Hitler that his invasion of Poland effectively started here.
The Battle of Westerplatte was the first battle in the Invasion of Poland, the beginning of the Second World War in Europe. Beginning on 1 September 1939, German naval forces and soldiers assaulted the Polish Military Transit Depot on the peninsula of Westerplatte, in the harbour of the Free City of Danzig.
The depot was manned by fewer than 200 soldiers, but held out for seven days in the face of a heavy attack that included dive bomber attacks. The defense of Westerplatte served as an inspiration for the Polish Army and people in the face of successful German advances elsewhere, and today is still regarded as a symbol of resistance to the invasion.
Today, Westerplatte is one of the most popular tourist sites in Gdańsk and Poland and an essential visit for those with that eternal fascination with World War Two. The ruins of the barracks and two blockhouses – the only structures on the island – still remain. One of the blockhouses has been converted into a museum commemorating the battle and those who fought there, with two shells from the Schleswig-Holstein ironically propping the entrance.
A placid 25-metre tall stone monument now marks the site of this infamous exchange that preceded the levelling of Gdansk’s Old Town and sparked a worldwide conflict that would result in immeasurable suffering (particularly in Poland). Though it is outside the city, Westerplatte is a worthwhile venture for anyone visiting Gdansk. Like so many sights in Poland, it is haunted by it’s troubling history in the face of a beautiful natural environment.
There are a few different options when travelling to Westerplatte. If you’re driving, first head out of Gdańsk city centre along route 501 and then take route 89 north; get off the motorway-like road at the roundabout (avoiding the route towards crossing the river again) and carry on along the now smaller route 89 further through partly active, partly derelict industrial quarters until you come to the eastern end of Westerplatte. You can park on one of the lots to the right, or carry on to the end of the publicly usable road and park there.
If you’re using public transport, you have two options. The cheaper of the two would be to take bus line 106 from outside the main train station. The route goes through the same industrial parts and thus isn’t strictly speaking very scenic – but it’s also the fastest option.
The more expensive, but slow and scenic way of getting to Westerplatte is by boat from the Old Town waterfront. Either get a regular Water Tram (line F5) e.g. from Targ Rybny, or even that mock-pirate ship that plies the same route.
Westerplatte as such is accessible for free at all times (though going there outside daylight hours wouldn’t make much sense). The small old museum charges a low admission fee.
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