"And so to Greenwich..." : 'Pepyshow' at National Maritime Museum

Pepyshow was the name of a community drama group in the 80s who put lots of shows on at The Albany. They were based at Pepys Estate. The clue is in the name. Samuel Pepys was Secretary to the Admiralty and used to spend a lot of time in Deptford, keeping an eye on the navy's operations at Deptford's Royal Dockyard (now Convoys Wharf), visiting his friend John Evelyn and cavorting with Mrs Bagnell, the wife of a shipwright. Hence the streets and tower blocks near the river in Deptford are named after all the prominent people of that time – including ships captains and slave traders such as Hawkins and Drake.

Under Pepys' stewardship, an ambitious new shipbuilding programme was initiated on the orders of Charles II, its purpose to counter the threat of the Dutch navy and a rapidly expanding French fleet. The construction of the 'thirty ship' programme represented the pinnacle of English shipbuilding practice. The famous diarist's adminstration helped carry the Royal Navy to a position of global maritime supremacy, and he regarded this work as his greatest lifetime achievement.

Pepys was also President of the Royal Society during a time of hugely significant scientific exploration (including the work of John Evelyn), and he was Master of Trinity House, founded at Deptford Strand. So you'd expect to see a mention of Deptford in this new exhibition about Pepys at the Maritime Museum, wouldn't you?

But no, true to form (like most of the other general exhibits in the museum), there is hardly a SINGLE mention of Deptford in Samuel Pepys: Plague, Fire, Revolution.

Considering this is a maritime museum which bills itself as the "gateway to intrepid exploration and endeavour at sea", the section entitled 'Control of the Seas' which covers Pepys' role in the navy and the consequent "development of Britain's place as a maritime, economic and political force on the world stage" is surprisingly small. The sections on plague and fire are similarly small and underwhelming, despite the exhibition's title.

There is a mention of his good friend Evelyn, also a famous diarist, in the penultimate section 'Science and Society' where an original copy of Evelyn's great work 'Sylva' is displayed. But no mention of Evelyn's home and experimental gardens at Sayes Court in Deptford, next door to the Royal Dockyard – and just a stone's throw from Greenwich.

An interactive map of important London places is on display in almost every room, but does not extend beyond London Bridge. Our search for any reference to Deptford exposed a map of Harwich in the navy section which bore the microscopic legend "presented to Pepys as Secretary of the Admiralty, President of the Royal Society, and Master of Trinity House of Deptford Strand".

And if you pay the extra £2.50 for an audio guide on top of the advertised £12.50 ticket price, you'll hear an actor reading exceedingly short excerpts from the famous diary. Next to the copy of Sylva, the talking guide begins "And so to Deptford by water..." as Pepys heads down to see Evelyn. That's it for Deptford.

There is much emphasis on Charles II's mistresses (while missing out a lot of them) but no evidence of Pepys' womanising with Mrs Bagwell. His love of theatre and music takes up a lot of space with a shadow theatre presentation of small segments of Macbeth and Dryden, but the main focus is on the 'repositioning' of the British monarchy after the English Civil war, aka the Restoration. Interesting as it is (unless you're particularly phobic about the monarchy), the information is still paltry and confusing.

They certainly make a big deal, as you enter the show, out of a grand painting of Charles I being be-headed, with special spotlighting on parts of the painting that tell the story and provide a context, all of which you could easily miss if you arrive before or after it's scheduled to be 'interactive'. We're not sure if we heard or saw the word 'Catholic' mentioned in the entire show, but see for yourselves.

The exhibition is designed around what artefacts were available. Pepys' actual diary is not one of those, unfortunately, as Pepys' will confined it to Magdalene College, Cambridge, never to be shown elsewhere. Extracts available either by audio or interactive screen are limited, yet the scope of the exhibition covers before and after Pepys kept his diary (which he stopped long before he died). Even so, the British Museum's 'A History of the World in 100 Objects' managed to say more about the whole world than this show does about the Restoration with 200.

If you really want to know what was going on, when, where and who, you'll have to buy the book, which is £25 (£30 hardback). According to the index, there are about four mentions of Deptford in it, which is a vast improvement on the exhibition itself. They're also selling a comprehensively illustrated tome called 'Pepys Navy' by naval historian David Davies which has countless references to Deptford, but it's displayed on an unreachable high shelf – as if they're unsure what a visitor to a maritime museum might actually be interested in.

Merchandise consists of expensive metal fire buckets painted grey (!), and tins of Twinings English Breakfast Tea. The important fact that tea was first introduced to the UK by Charles II's queen, the Portuguese Catherine of Braganza, is one that you could easily miss in the exhibition unless you'd read the caption for the Chinese porcelain teapot lurking among the display of silver coffee pots.

As for the flavour of Pepys and the people he dealt with in his day to day dealings...well we still have the diaries. The value of this exhibition is its political overview, and what the diary did not cover when Pepys stopped writing about London. But generally you'd be at a loss to find any evidence of ordinary people in this entire show.

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Greenwich would be nothing without Deptford, and it's about time the museum acknowledged that fact. Hopefully, Deptford's homegrown projects will redress the balance in the future, offering a better understanding of the past and the part that ordinary people played in it aside from the political machinations of the time (though these cannot be ignored, especially now). The Lenox Project not only wants to construct a replica of the first ship in Pepys' thirty ship programme, but also intends to build a Deptford Dockyard Museum.

Most of the artefacts would have to come from the National Maritime Museum which holds them in storage never to be displayed. Whilst its less prominent staff are enthusiastic about the project, the snobby upper echelons have so far refused to support it. Meanwhile, John Evelyn's legacy will be celebrated by a centre of excellence created by Sayes Court Garden CIC, who are currently working with Greenwich University.

Both projects are still waiting to get started after their ambitious plans were successfully made a condition of the planning permission given to the Convoys Wharf's Hong Kong based conglomerate Hutchison Whampoa by the Mayor of London in March 2014 (after the decision was snatched by the GLA from the hands of Lewisham Council in 2013 because they were supposedly taking too long to decide)...

If you feel proud of Deptford's past achievements as an international powerhouse of scientific ingenuity and industrial prowess, and want to see it celebrated whilst the site gets buried under 48 and 38 storey 'luxury homes', these are the projects that need your support.

The Lenox Project CIC: www.buildthelenox.org
Sayes Court Garden CIC: www.sayescourtgarden.org.uk

Steve McQueen to work on BBC drama and Yinka Shonibare at the National Maritime Museum

Although Oscar nominated film director Steve McQueen grew up in West London, it was when he was at Goldsmiths College doing his Fine Art degree that he realised his love of film. As he said on the Culture Show on BBC last night (and echoing many a Goldsmith Fine Art under-graduate who thinks they're on the wrong course), "When I was at Goldsmiths, I wanted to be at film school...and when I went to (Tisch film school in New York) I only stayed 3 months". He felt stifled by the limitations there – the Goldsmiths ethos had turned his head. For McQueen, "it was all about ideas". He went on to win the Turner Prize in 1999 after making several highly distinctive short films.

The 12 Years A Slave director is now working towards a new BBC drama about the lives of black Britons, claimed to be 'epic in scope' and covering 1968 to the present day, says the BBC. What better hands could such a high profile project be in that are in charge of a story about black people from all walks of life living in Britain in a period spanning fifty years?

Was there an open competition to which perhaps the UK's most talented black dramatists who've been working in theatre all these years might have pitched? Oh well never mind. Good luck, Steve, we're looking forward to it! Ask your writers to get in touch with your Deptford cousins, we don't want all the London scenes set in Notting Hill and Brixton, it was all gwan here y'know.

Meanwhile, another great artist and Goldsmiths Fine Arts Degree graduate, Yinka Shonibare MBE, is showing at the National Maritime Museum until 23 February.

Shonibare, who was shortlisted for the Turner Prize in 2004, turns all the reverential baloney about Nelson on its head – by introducing new photographs into the museum's collection of paintings of Nelson at the Queen's House.

In Shonibare's reconstructed likenesses of the paintings, Nelson is accompanied by the black people who might inevitably have been there at the time if they hadn't been wiped from history (the short-focused history recorded and collected by the privileged of the time and henceforth).

The exhibition includes Shonibare's trademark Dutch wax 'African' printed costumes for Nelson and his lover, plus a beautiful outdoor sculpture of a flag in the Queen's Park on the Trafalgar Road side. His better known "Nelson's Ship in A Bottle" sits on the Greenwich Park side, originally displayed on the fourth plinth at Trafalgar Square and subsequently acquired by the Museum. A further work is displayed at the Observatory but you'll have to pay to get in.

At a public talk at the NMM late last year, Shonibare said that when he was young he'd always felt "museums were not for him and his like", but now he was "on the inside to change things from the inside out". It's no coincidence that Royal Museums Greenwich are making a special effort to address their hitherto highly narrow, blinkered and colonial approach to British Naval History by inviting Shonibare to tinker (they say "infiltrate") with their collection. Don't miss – and it's free.

(God forbid the estate agents pick up on this slice of 'vibrancy' - Ed.)

Loving the river...

Last chance to see Estuary, an exhibition at the Docklands Museum (or Museum of London, Docklands), just a hop away on the DLR (West India Quay) or an easy walk or cycle ride via the Greenwich foot tunnel.

If you love the River Thames, this is for you. It's an art exhibition about the Thames from London to the sea, and there are paintings and photographs, but actually, it's the films that make the entry price  (NONE! It's FREE!) alone worth going. The most engaging films are on the 3rd floor away from the main exhibition. Called "Portrait of a River" you'll find a series of short films all made by Nikolaj Bendix Skyum Larsen, which bring contemporary life on the Thames into sharp focus, in contrast to a more historical but also engaging film downstairs by William Raban.

Larsen's series of films are unpretentious and not at all "arty" and Deptford gets a mention with a little film about the Ahoy Centre's activities, but don't expect much about south of the river. Our time is coming (or at least it's nearer than it ever was).

The Museum is also housed in a restored warehouse, and worth the visit alone. Around and about, you'll see construction in the area continues unabated, with more towers going up (and luxury flats sold off-plan before a single piece of concrete has been laid).

This show finishes next weekend (27th October), so don't miss!

Meanwhile, a new show opens at the National Maritime Museum on Monday: Nelson, Navy, Nation  The Story of the Royal Navy and the British People, 1688–1815. It's the 18th Century, and the exhibition explores "how the Royal Navy shaped everyday lives as it became a central part of society and turned sea-faring heroes into national celebrities."

The Fall of Nelson, Battle of Trafalgar, 21 October 1805 by Denis Dighton circa 1825 © NMM

It opens on Monday 21st because that's apparently Trafalgar Day. Obviously we'll reserve judgement having not been privileged to preview the show, but on the main webpage for the exhibit, there's a link to "bustling dockyards" and it doesn't go to Deptford, but to a picture of Plymouth. Doh! What is wrong with these people? Oh well, Deptford wasn't the only Royal dockyard, of course. It's just simply the most forgotten. What a scoop they missed! Still, if they've managed to conjure up any atmosphere regarding dockyard life, you can apply it to Deptford.

The good news is this is also FREE! And on Monday, if you're about, there's a Sea Shanty crew The Scorpian Band promenading around 11am, 2pm and 3pm. There are also a host of other free activities going on for the duration of the exhibition (no idea when it ends) and of course there's lots more exhibitions and events going on at the Museum other than this one – for instance, the now permanent show Traders: the East India Company and Asia which, in our interpretation, shows us how capitalism took root after the state sponsored piracy of earlier years, and whose practices are easily recognisable in 21st capitalism, proving history repeats itself to our detriment...

To get a flavour of the Nelson, Navy, Nation exhibition check out the video at the BBC News Magazine. The video ends with Cleverley's painting of Deptford Dockyard (the one that is pictured in the mural at the top of Frankham Street) and the words: "in order to understand where we are now and the particularities of our relationship with the maritime world – and with national identity – you cannot ignore what was happening then".

UNESCO International Remembrance Day for the Slave Trade and its Abolition

Ignatius Sancho (1729-1780) by Thomas Gainsborough (National Gallery of Canada)

Friday 23 August, 11.30am – 4.30pm
FREE at the National Maritime Museum

The National Maritime Museum is hosting a day of remembrance on the anniversary of the first successful slave uprising in the western hemisphere (23 August 1791 in Haiti).

The day's events will explore the Museum’s collections relating to the trade of enslaved people, as well as focusing on the many local connections to be found in the Greenwich World Heritage Site. Actor and broadcaster Burt Caesar will act as Master of Ceremonies for the day, and will lead the closing ceremony, which will take place by the River Thames at the Water Gates at the Old Royal Naval College at 4.15pm. Participants are invited to scatter rose petals into the river as an act of silent commemoration.

Dr Temi Odumosu will explore the themes and attitudes of George Cruickshank’s The New Union Club, which is considered one of the most racist and complex prints of the 19th Century (12.30pm). Composer Dominique LeGendre is giving a talk on black composers from the period of enslavement, including celebrated composer and man of letters Ignatius Sancho (pictured above) who lived in Greenwich and was the first black man to vote. There is also an interactive tour for families by storyteller Rich Sylvester exploring Ignatius Sancho's early life (12pm & 3pm), and historian S. I. Martin (author of children's books and the learning manager at the Black Cultural Archive in Kennington) will lead a walking tour to St Alfege Church, Greenwich, looking into the impact that the slave trade had on Greenwich families (starts 2pm at the Museum entrance).

There will also be singing and art workshops during the day (for all ages and abilities). To find out more go to the National Maritime Museum's webpage.

Also, during August at the Museum, there's storytelling centred around Nelson's Ship in a Bottle by artist Yinka Shonibare MBE:
Mondays and Wednesdays throughout August, 12pm, 1pm, 2pm, 3pm, FREE
Discover what life was like for a Black sailor in Nelson’s navy, through the eyes of John Simmons. From being press-ganged and taken away from his home in Jamaica, the young sailor's moving story reveals the realities and surprising freedoms of a life at sea with Admiral Nelson.
Nelson’s Ship in a Bottle, Sammy Ofer Wing entrance, National Maritime Museum.
Suitable for ages 7+  More info here.

Stargazing at Greenwich

Although it is fully booked, you can watch Stargazing Live tonight on BBC2 from 8pm, coming live from the National Maritime Museum. See the BBC website.

Focus on Royal Greenwich

The London Marathon this weekend marks the start of all the big events happening in Greenwich this year and seems to have provided a soft deadline for preparations. First, though, here's that Marathon route again...

Next Wednesday 25 April, the Queen and Prince Philip will re-open the Cutty Sark. Spectators who want to oggle the Queen are invited to assemble in Cutty Sark Gardens from 10.30am (see the Greenwich Council website). The £50m refurbished monument opens to the public the following day, and last weekend finishing touches were in progress – presumably the surrounding new square will be open on Marathon Day. Some raked seating was being erected, hopefully just a temporary stand for the Queen's visit (since it ruins the view). *

There are some lovely, if regimented, new raised flowerbeds on the west side, and after months of inconvenience, the new pier entrances are looking efficient and hopefully smooth running, although the new ticket office wasn't open yet and the foot tunnel entrance was still a disgrace last weekend. Three of the four cafes and restaurants (which all seem to have been transplanted in a different form from the cinema car park at Surrey Quays) were up and running in the new riverside buildings and look to be a roaring success with visitors. Nandos opens next week.

From the riverside, looking northwest, you can view the construction work on the luxury flats taking place at Greenwich Reach (below, far left), Paynes & Borthwick Wharf (recently restarted, where the cranes are), and in the distance to the right, the almost completed Shard at London Bridge (OK, not all luxury flats). The flat bit in the middle is Convoys Wharf, site of King Henry VIII's Royal Dockyard and John Evelyn's Sayes Court Gardens. Plans are under review by Terry Farrell & Partners after the previous masterplan for 3,500 flats was rejected since it failed to acknowledge the enormous historical heritage of the site. See local blog Deptford Is..., whose vision for the site (building a 17th century warship and restoring Sayes Court) if realised, would be a short river walk from Greenwich to the place where Sir Francis Drake was knighted on the Golden Hind, where ships left to engage the Armada and the Franco-Spanish fleet at Trafalgar, and where Sir Walter Raleigh laid down his cloak for Queen Elizabeth I.

Meanwhile, in the grounds of the Royal Naval College, yet another set for Les Miserables has been constructed with filming going on this week. 81 year old Don Simms, a guide at The Painted Hall (opposite the set) likes to tell tourists he body doubled for Johnny Depp when Pirates of the Caribbean was filmed here last year.

For film fans, there's a Film Location Tour at 2pm on April 26th-29th. There is also a free exhibition about Charles Dickens at the Visitor's Centre until 15 July. In June, the ORNC will host a Big Jubilee Lunch and the Greenwich+Docklands International Festival. If you have friends or relatives visiting for the Marathon, take them to The Old Brewery, a microbrewery, cafe and restaurant tucked into the east of the Royal Naval College. 

We note that a brand new exhibition opens at the National Maritime Museum on 27th April (not free!). Royal River (Power, Pageantry and The Thames) is guest curated by mad royalist David Starkey to celebrate the Queen's Diamond Jubilee and will run until 9 September. The Thames Jubilee Pageant takes place on Sunday 3rd June and promises to be spectacular – and although the Queen will disembark at Tower Bridge, many of the 1000 boats taking part will come as far as Greenwich to disperse.

With its new Sammy Offer Wing opening out onto the Royal park, the Maritime Museum is always worth a visit, as is the Royal Observatory and Planetarium – see the Greenwich Phantom's new post about a trip to the Planetarium. As s/he notes, when you're a local, you rarely bother to go and see these things that you wouldn't dare miss if you'd come here on holiday.

From the new wing of the NMM, you can get the measure of the Olympic Equestrian site, which has taken over the Queen's Field. The entire park will be closed to the public from 7 July to 4 August (except for the Flower Garden and Children's Playground).

There has been much opposition to the park's use for the Olympics and a new gallery has opened on Creek Road featuring photographs of the park. At Made in Greenwich, Greenwich Landscape Artists are still campaigning against the Olympics being held here, fearing it will herald the loss of the park as we know it, in a flood of future corporate or brand sponsored events.

Finally, Marmoset has news via reader San that there will be fireworks at Greenwich Reach on Saturday 5th May at 9.45pm. We've absolutely no idea why since it doesn't coincide with any big events...but the picture below was snapped when cruise liner the Seabourn Sojourne slipped in to dock here fairly unannounced in June 2010. Now that the Greenwich Reach development has totally obscured all views of the river from Deptford Bridge, head to Millennium Quay if you want to see 'em.

* UPDATE 24/04/12: We have since ascertained this is a permanent structure which houses lifts and air conditioning. A critique of the "restored" Cutty Sark ("Disney Sark") and the vandalism of the park caused by the Olympics, written by Greenwich resident and infamous journalist Andrew Gilligan, can be found here.

Diwali celebrations at the Maritime Museum

Saturday 12th November 11.30am-6pm

FREE Family Day at the National Maritime Museum

A family-friendly day of performance and storytelling, activities and workshops, film and music, to mark the Hindu festival of Lights and British maritime connections with India.

The day culminates in a lantern-lit outdoor procession in Greenwich Park led by local outdoor arts company Emergency Exit Arts at 4.30-5.15pm. To take part in the procession, join the lantern-making workshops at 11am-1pm and 1.30-3.30pm at the museum (all ages welcome).

Since Diwali was actually 26th October (!) the day's events are really about flagging up the new gallery at the museum, Traders: the East India Company and Asia, which opened in September. If you haven't been to the museum for a while (or ever), the new wing and exhibition are well worth a look.

For more information, visit www.nmm.ac.uk/visit/events/diwali-celebrations-2011