Hampshire County Council

Executive Member - Economic Development Item 1

28 February 2005

SeaBritain 2005 and the VE/VJ 60^th Commemorations

Report of the Director of Recreation and Heritage

Contact: Andrew Bateman ext. 5478 e-mail: [email protected]

1. Corporate Aims

1.1 SeaBritain 2005 and the VE/VJ 60^th commemorations support the following corporate aims:

i. Building Strong and Safe Communities. They encourage communities to become more aware of the important part played by the county in WWII and the importance of the sea and coastline.

ii. Maximising life opportunities. They promote participation in learning and increase people's awareness and enjoyment of Hampshire's natural and cultural diversity.

iii. Stewardship of the environment. They help ensure that Hampshire's characteristic built and natural environments are recognised and encourage effort to manage their protection.

iv. Achieving economic prosperity. They assist in promoting Hampshire as a location for tourism.

2. Summary

2.1 SeaBritain 2005 is a major year-long celebration of Britain's maritime heritage. Many of the large scale events such as the International Fleet Review and International Festival of the Sea will be located in Hampshire. Recreation and Heritage sites will host a wide range of maritime themed activities. 2005 marks the 60^th anniversary of VE/VJ. The Great Hall will host an Imperial War Museum travelling exhibition in June/July 2005 and a range of supporting educational activities are planned.

3. SeaBritain 2005

3.1 The 200^th anniversary of the Battle of Trafalgar will be on October 21 2005. An Official Nelson Commemorations Committee led by the National Maritime Museum, was formed to co-ordinate a programme of events and activities throughout 2005 under the banner of a `Trafalgar Festival'. These included events celebrating the wider story of Britain's close relationship with the sea, as well as events specifically related to Nelson and Trafalgar and aimed to highlight and celebrate Britain's close and continuing relationship with the sea and promote a wider understanding of our maritime heritage, including Nelson and the Royal Navy.

3.2 More recently the scope of the `Trafalgar Festival' was extended to include the participation of a range of additional organisations, notably Sea Vision UK, Department for Culture Media and Sport, Royal Yachting Association. The `Trafalgar Festival' was re-branded as SeaBritain 2005.

3.3 A number of the main national SeaBritain 2005 events will be take place in Hampshire, notably

· 28 June: International Fleet Review and Son et Lumiere

· 29 June: Drumhead Ceremony

· 30 June: International Festival of the Sea

· 21 October: National Beacon Lighting on `Trafalgar Day'

3.4 Some 150 ships will take part in the Fleet Review from over 40 nations around the globe. This will be followed by a magnificent Son et Lumiere off Southsea that re-creates an early 19^th century sea battle involving a host of tall ships. A traditional Drumhead Ceremony will be held in Portsmouth on 29 June. This will involve veterans of WWII and more recent campaigns.

3.5 To ensure that there was a mechanism that could co-ordinate and promote events and activities across the whole of Hampshire and within the County Council, the Tourism Section developed a Hampshire SeaBritain group. This grouping of interests has been an effective clearing-house and conduit for information that has helped with event and activity planning. £15,000 has been earmarked from the 2004/05 and 2005/06 Recreation and Heritage events budgets to help services with their activities. These include, but are not limited to

· Themed reading promotions and circulation of recently published books on the sea, battles and Nelson around Hampshire libraries

· Halloween Horatio promenade performance linking press-gang activities, Battle of Trafalgar and French PoWs at Queen Elizabeth Country Park

· Nelson era sailor information boards at Countryside, Museum and Library Service sites

· Author, Titanic and RNLI talks at Gosport Discovery Centre and libraries

· Family history workshops at libraries for those tracing naval ancestors involving guest speakers from the National Archives and National Maritime Museum

· Submarine Story Times promoting an understanding of the underwater world at Fareham & Gosport libraries and the RN Submarine Museum

· Maritime themed exhibition and lectures at the Record Office

· Artists and the Sea: Alfred West and his naval images in conjunction with the National Maritime Museum at the Record Office

· Beside the Sea: one day family events at Countryside Service sites

· Making a Difference sea themed arts projects in coastal residential care homes

3.6 The New Trafalgar Dispatch is scheduled to take place in late August/early September 2005 and will be a re-creation of Lt Laponetiere's journey from Falmouth to London that brought news of victory and Nelson's death at Trafalgar. Civic events are planned along the route at Andover, Overton, Basingstoke and Hartfordbridge. The Library and Museum Services are planning to link-in high profile author talks.

3.7 The Tourism Section will be promoting the full range of SeaBritain events across Hampshire within a series of event newsletters during 2005. The first of these will be published in March, with further editions in June and September. Some 10,000 copies of each will be published and circulated around Hampshire. News features also are scheduled for Showcase and Hampshire Now and liaison with Radio Solent is underway to promote event dates. Details will also feature on web pages at the following address www.hants.gov.uk/seabritain2005. In addition, coverage will also be gained through participation in regional and national tourism media campaigns.

3.8 The Recreation and Heritage Department in conjunction with the Coastal Strategy team in the Environment Department will have a stand at the International Festival of the Sea (30 June - 3 July). This aims to highlight the County Council's role in coastal environmental protection and the development of recreational opportunities.

3.9 The Tourism Section are also a member of Portsmouth City Council's SeaBritain Steering Group and have helped ensure activities are co-ordinated across the two authorities in conjunction with Gosport Borough Council. In addition the County Council's Emergency Planning unit have assigned one of their team to project manage emergency planning requirements for the International Fleet Review and IFOS events in conjunction with the district, borough and unitary authorities and the County Council's Traffic Management service.

4. VE/VJ 60^th Anniversary Commemorations

4.1 2005 marks the 60^th anniversary of the end of WWII. 8 May and 15 August are VE and VJ day, respectively. The 60^th anniversary is unique in that it will be the last opportunity for many who witnessed the war at first hand to participate in commemorations and also to share their experiences with the nation. A national week of remembrance and commemoration will take place between 3-10 July 2005.

4.2 The Big Lottery Fund, Imperial War Museum, and the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council (MLA) have come together to produce a programme of activity and funding under the banner Their Past Your Future to promote remembrance and commemoration. The Big Lottery Fund has funded the Imperial War Museum to produce copies of a Travelling Exhibition for a UK tour that will invite visitors to explore both the immediate and long term impact of WWII on UK society and its landscape. This fund has also developed a scheme to help local education authorities enable schools to participate in commemorative events.

4.3 The Tourism Section, which also co-ordinates the Defence of the Realm military heritage marketing consortium, led on developing a successful bid to host the Travelling Exhibition in the Great Hall between 13 June and 25 July 2005. This will coincide with the week of national commemorations in July. A bursary of £21,500 was also awarded towards the development of a programme of outreach educational events and activities. Twelve events will be held at the Great Hall and developed in co-operation with Winchester's Military Museums during the period of the exhibition. A further nine will take place in Aldershot, Fareham/Gosport and Andover and will be organised in conjunction with Library Service and Museums Service staff and venues in each location.

4.4 A further bid was submitted to the Their Past Your Future programme by Hampshire Local Education Authority and the Museums Service Head of Education for additional educational activities. This was successful and they were recently awarded £38,411. A third bid has also been submitted that will allow a small number of Recreation and Heritage sites to develop a small exhibition and use this as the focus for activities that bring veterans and schoolchildren together. The outcome of this bid is awaited. Opportunities for integrating the delivery and promotion of the funded programmes mentioned above are in-hand.

4.5 The Lord Lieutenant of Hampshire and the Dean of Winchester will be hosting a Winchester Cathedral VE/VJ Remembrance Service on 6 July 2005. This will have a Home Front emphasis and an opportunity for involving young people.

Recommendations

i) That the involvement of the Tourism Section in both the SeaBritain 2005 and VE/VJ 60^th anniversary national initiatives be supported.

ii) That the commitment of £10,000 of Tourism Section budget to support SeaBritain activities in 2004/05 and £5,000 in 2005/06 be approved.

Section 100 D - Local Government Act 1972 - background papers

The following documents disclose facts or matters on which this report, or an important part of it, is based and has been relied upon to a material extent in the preparation of this report.

NB the list excludes:

1. Published works

2. Documents which disclose exempt or confidential information as defined in the Act.

TITLE LOCATION

Sea Britain 2005 file Tourism Section