Joy as Mary Rose scoops huge windfall

The Mary Rose is set for a dazzling new home after scooping £21m of lottery cash.

The windfall will see the 463-year-old ship housed in a world-class museum at Portsmouth's historic dockyard.
Since being raised from the seabed 25 years ago, the flagship of Henry VIII's fleet has been sitting in a temporary hall.
Without funding to finish her conservation and give her a permanent home, trustees feared the Tudor relic could be lost forever.
But the Mary Rose has been saved after beating competition from bids across the country, including Kensington Palace and the Tate Gallery in London.
Chief executive of the Mary Rose Trust, John Lippiett, said: 'It's Portsmouth's ship and Portsmouth should be thrilled.
'This going to be a jewel in the city's crown.'
The £35m project will bring the ship and the museum – currently at opposite ends of the dockyard – under one roof, reuniting the Mary Rose and thousands of her unseen artefacts for the first time in almost 500 years. Trustees plan to open the dockyard attraction in 2011 in time to exploit the 2012 Olympics.
And after gradually drying out the timbers the Mary Rose will be displayed for the first time in her full glory, with no physical barrier between the ship and the public.
Mr Lippiett said: 'This is the finest 16th century time capsule anywhere in the world and this funding shows it's at the top of the nation's priorities.'
The money – nearly a tenth of the Heritage Lottery Fund's annual budget – is even more sweet for the Mary Rose Trust after its first bid was rejected for not being ambitious enough.
But the trust still faces the tough challenge of raising the extra £14m.
It has already raised £3.5m

and has set itself just over a year to find the remaining £10.5m.
Ideas include forming a club of wealthy donors who will sign up to give long term monthly donations.
The trust is also looking into sponsorship, asking companies to provide services free of charge or at a reduced rate in return for publicity.
Mr Lippiett said: 'I'm confident we'll raise the money.
'We're at the mercy of people and how worthwhile they find us.
'And we're looking into the possibility of sponsorship deals which could be a great help.'
Portsmouth South MP Mike Hancock said: 'I've seen the plans and it's really exciting. They've refreshed the idea of the Mary Rose and captured people's imagination and this will keep Portsmouth on the world map.'

Warship heads out for Nato mission

HMS Hurworth leaving Portsmouth

HMS Hurworth left her home port of Portsmouth yesterday bound for the Baltic.

The Hunt-class minehunter will spend four and a half months working within a Nato taskforce, including ships from Belgium, Germany, Holland, Lithuania, Poland and Norway.
She is part of Nato's immediate reaction force, which is on standby to deploy anywhere in the region at short notice.

Portsmouth Minehunter Bound for the Baltic

Portsmouth-based warship HMS Hurworth leaves the Naval Base tomorrow (8 Jan) bound for a minehunting mission in the Baltic Sea and northern Europe.

The Hunt-class minehunter will spend four and-a-half months working within a NATO task force comprising ships from Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands, Lithuania, Poland and Norway.

The task group – known as Standing Nato Mine Countermeasures Group 1 – is NATO’s immediate reaction force, ready to deploy anywhere in the region at short notice.

It was established in 1949 as a permanent force, with member countries providing vessels on a rotation basis. It provides a constant and visible reminder of the solidarity and cohesion of NATO, keeping strategic waterways free from dangerous ordnance.

Hurworth’s busy itinerary includes a series of exercises with other ships from the group and clearing some of the thousands of mines laid during the two world wars that still pose a hazard in the region. Goodwill port visits are planned for Lithuania, Germany and Belgium. 
Commanding Officer, Lieutenant Commander Andy Woolhead, said : “The ship will be operating in the North Sea and in and around the Baltic exercising with a number NATO nations under UK Command.  The ship's company are very much looking forward to the deployment as we travel to a number of foreign countries to participate in numerous exercises.  The autumn period has been spent preparing for this period away and we are now fully stored and ready to represent the UK in this important alliance.”

HMS Exeter Stars at London Boat Show

Portsmouth-based warship HMS Exeter is to take on a starring role at this year’s London Boat Show.

The Type 42 destroyer - a veteran of the Falklands conflict of 1982 – will host several high-profile receptions, lunches and dinners on behalf of show organisers during the ten-day event at ExCel which starts on Friday (Jan 11).

And the vessel is also open daily to visitors – more than 25,000 are expected to go on board over the ten days to learn about the role of the modern Royal Navy and how it fits in with the UK maritime community.

Royal Navy frigates have been popular attractions at the show since 2004 but this year is the first time a destroyer has been involved.

Exeter’s Commanding Officer, Commander Paul Brown, said: “I am delighted and extremely proud that HMS Exeter has been given the opportunity to represent the Royal Navy at one of the country’s most important maritime events.

“The RN is as relevant today as any point in its history and it is fitting that we are at the show as an integral part of the UK’s maritime community.”

He added: “I hope that we will be able to give the public a flavour of life on board a warship and some idea of what the RN does when we are out of sight over the horizon.”