What a shame the Cutty Sark catching fire ..
By patootie
@patootie (3592)
May 21, 2007 11:31am CST
Sometimes things from history catch our imaginations and we can grow quite fond of them .. just so with the wonderful Cutty Sark .. irrefutably the fastest tea clipper in the world .. built in 1869 she was 280ft long .. and she made the wind powered trip from Australia to England in a then record of just 67 days ..
I well remember visiting her with my school .. were all so excited .. 30 noisy giggling 9-10 year old kids .. hushed into rapt silence by the magnificence of the Cutty Sark .. many years later I took my own children to see her .. and they were just as thrilled as I had been all those years ago ..
Now sadly she lies a charred wreck .. apparently been set on fire maliciously .. and just the day before the Queen was due to be visiting .. sounds a little scary if you ask me .. terrorist action ?? who knows .. but I hope they catch the blighter who did it .. I'd flog him to within an inch of his life ... the Cutty Sark was a real joy to many folks .. some 15 million visitors have boarded her in her London drydock
They do think they may be able to rebuild her and luckily all the most precious artifacts had just been removed ready for an overhaul of the decks and planking .. so fortunately nothing truly irreplaceable was lost ... but she's a sad sight .. stinking with smoke, charred wetted wood .. all the life burnt out of her .. I do hope they can rebuild her .. a phoenix from the fire .. anyone got £25 million spare??
Have you ever been on board the Cutty Sark, have you heard of her .. ??
2 people like this
4 responses
@wolfie34 (26771)
• United Kingdom
21 May 07
I know, I was horrified to hear about this, seems like nothing is sacred nowadays. I used to live about ten minutes away from where the Cutty Sark is. I love Greenwich, beautiful park, attracts so many tourists and is a lovely place to go for all. Sadly there is no real deterrant now my friend, so whats to stop people doing this knowing that if they get caught they get a slapped wrist. I hope they do rebuild her, although it will take a lot of painstaking work as well as money to restore her fully. Sad day indeed.
1 person likes this
@patootie (3592)
•
22 May 07
You know the really old thing about all this is that they were just starting a £25 million refit .. now I assume they had her well insured .. so I guess part of the rebuild money is now already secure from the insurance money .. and if they had already got the £25 million .. time will be the only delay to getting her rebuilt ..
@feralwoman (2199)
• Australia
22 May 07
I've never been lucky enough to board the Cutty Sark, but I've seen it.
When I saw the late news last night I just couldn't believe it - I wanted to cry. It made me mad how some ignorant git could set fire to something so beautiful - and the last remaining one of it's kind. I hope they catch the stupid person and throw the book at him, and hit him with it too! Geez, if I got my hands on him i'd kill him for putting a fantastic piece of history down the toilet.
@Lindalinda (4111)
• Canada
22 May 07
What a shame. I was so saddened to see this beautiful ship go down to rubble. I saw it on TV. Hopefully it will be possible to restore it. There is a question as to how the fire started. If it was arson I hope they catch the perpetrators and punish them.
@patootie (3592)
•
22 May 07
I'm sorry gabs .. I had meant to give a link to a news article .. but I was so deep in thought about the kind of person who would do such a thing as setting fire to this ship .. more than anything it will spoil the enormous pleasure many people from all over the world get from looking at such old historical pieces ... never mind all the kiddies for whom a visit to the Cutty Sark brought such vivid ideas of what life could have been like for sailors in years gone by ...
Anyway here is a link not only to the news of the fire .. but if you scroll down there is a 'potted history' of the Cutty Sarks working life as a world record breaking tea clipper ..
http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/news/article-23397402-details/Cutty+Sark+to+rise+from+the+ashes+after+arson+attack/article.do
