Barry and John Slayford will formally present this model of HMS Medway Queen to us at the Medway Queen Visitor Centre on Saturday 3rd June. Photo below: John Slayford The model has been donated by brothers Barry & John Slayford, who originally purchased it online some time ago. Their father, John Slayford, was rescued by the Medway Queen on the "last rescue journey from Dunkirk". "Last" can actually refer to either of two trips since the crew were originally told that trip 6 would be their last. Trip 7 was added later when it was realised that many men of the French rear guard were still ashore.
Photographic evidence is, perhaps, more readily available now than it was when the model was built and no doubt our “experts” will crawl over it (metaphorically) and suggest improvements to its accuracy. That will have to be assessed carefully and adjustments made where possible without harming the original. You can be sure that best use will be made of the model in promoting the ship’s centenary next year and the Dunkirk anniversary in 2025. The Medway Queen Visitor Centre will be open as usual from 11am to 4pm (last admission 3pm) and ship tours will operate as normal.
Elsewhere our Medway Queen West support group are attending another event at Havenstreet on the Isle of Wight Steam Railway (13 & 14 May). The stall will, naturally, feature Medway Queen's time on the Island and we hope to add more anecdotes of that time to our records.
This time "Medway Queen West" will take part in the model railway exhibition at Havenstreet on the Isle of Wight Steam Railway on Saturday and Sunday 13/14th May. Author Richard Halton will be on hand to sell signed copies of his “PS Ryde” book and his four “Medway Queen” books, including “The Medway Queen Club” published to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the club. This book contains first-hand accounts with illustrations of that period in the ship’s history. Richard is also interested in talking to anyone with information or memories of the two paddle excursion steamers purchased by Red Funnel from the Medway company in 1949. They started life as minesweepers in World War One, served as excursion ships between the wars, swept the seas again in the Second War and returned to excursion service afterwards. Red Funnel used them for a few years from 1949 as PS Lorna Doone and PS Solent Queen. In both cases they replaced older ships of the same names. If you are unable to attend the event Richard can be contacted by email: richardhalton1502@gmail.com.
The Medway Queen stand at the exhibition will be accompanied by “The Garden Railway” using N gauge trains and large scale figures to depict a 7¼ inch gauge miniature railway. The stand will have details of work being undertaken on the ship, full details of society membership (of course) and ranges of railway books and model accessories for sale to raise funds towards the continuing work on the ship. If you remember the “Medway Queen Club” stop by for a chat, if you don’t remember it, we’ll happily fill that gap in your knowledge of Island history.
The official introduction states: "To mark His Majesty The King’s Coronation thousands of organisations across the country are getting together to give us all the chance to help out in our own local communities. Starting on Monday 8th May there will be opportunities for everyone to join in. No matter what you are good at, there’ll be something to suit helping hands of all shapes and sizes! From checking in on someone who’d like a bit of company or volunteering for a charity the more of us who join in, the bigger help we will be." Medway Queen and the Medway Queen Visitor Centre will be open for visits and tours on Monday May 8th (usual opening times) with an additional emphasis on recruiting new volunteers to help with the project. Come along and have a chat with existing team members. We'll do our best to find something that interests you and fits with your existing life schedule. Photo, top shows some of our volunteers at the launch of our children's book last year.
Courtesy of Martin Goodhew. |
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