Maritime festivities continue today!
Our maritime festivities for Heritage Open Days continue today with new arrival sailing barge Thalatta joining sailing smack Excelsior on Common Quay, outside the Old Custom House. Free to explore, until 4pm.
Inside the Old Custom House, courtesy of ABP, we have an exhibition of our stunning black and white photos – some of them the earliest photos in the world – of the port of Ipswich and its people. There are maritime artefacts to touch and feel, including a surprisingly heavy cannon ball. And you can take a selfie in front of the old lock-up!
In the Excise room we are focusing on Ipswich and its connection to the Hanseatic League and are very pleased to be displaying the artwork by Ipswich artist Stephen Patterson which was selected for the Hanse Art Festival in Poland earlier this year. Look out too for the Leonard Squirrell painting Port of Ipswich from the big gas holder, 1938.
We are also fortunate to have the Ipswich Trail Maker project, led by Thomas Wolsey 550 in partnership with Ipswich Society. Spot the new blue plaque outside to Edward Caley, the young engineer in charge of constructing the Wet Dock in the 1840s.
For school-age children and their families, our own Ipswich Heritage Harbour trail links the past to the present, with challenges at each of the ten stages, starting at the Old Custom House. There are prizes!
And on Albion Wharf, IMT’s own maritime museum features a window display created by local schoolchildren working with IMT’s Ipswich Heritage Harbour Project team. Possibly the smallest maritime museum in the UK, the Window Museum is open 24/7!
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