120 members of Girlguiding from across South West England took over the Mary Rose Museum recently as part of a special experience day to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the raising of King Henry VIII’s warship. Included in the group were Guides from the 1st. Carisbrooke Unit and the 11th Newport Unit who travelled, with their leaders, from the Island to Portsmouth for the day.
Emily Stephens and Keira Wells of 1st Carisbrooke Guides, commented “We thought it was great seeing the ship and the artefacts, we couldn’t believe how it survived and how they lifted it all from the seabed. We had a great day!”
To celebrate this 40-year milestone the museum team created a special Mary Rose Badge and activity pack in partnership with Girlguiding South West England. This activity pack contains history, STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) plus food and craft activities. To launch the badge, the Mary Rose Museum invited the 120 girls to take part in a variety of activities. They got a chance to work in teams to load and fire a full-size replica cannon, guess the use of mystery artefacts and compare modern and Tudor food to decide if we are more healthy than the Tudors.
Charley Chamberlain, Mary Rose Learning Officer and Rainbow unit leader, said “It may have been all men on the Mary Rose in 1545, but the modern story of the excavation and conservation of the ship owes much to incredible women such as the late Archaeological Director Margaret Rule, diver, curator and author Alexandra Hildred and Deputy CEO and Material Scientist Professor Eleanor Schofield. We want girls to hear about their stories and be inspired to try new things and make a difference in the World.”