Walking under the hull
Raised three metres on a glass canopy, the ship lets you pass beneath her golden-coloured hull for the best view in the place.
Krzysztof Belczyński from Warsaw, POLAND — CC BY-SA 2.0 · DiscoA340 — CC BY-SA 4.0 · DiscoA340 — CC BY-SA 4.0 · DiscoA340 — CC BY-SA 4.0
Cutty Sark slid into the water from a Scottish yard in 1869, the same year the Suez Canal opened, and the canal quietly ended the era of fast sailing ships before this one had a chance to shine. Built to race the steamers with tea from China to London, she lost that race almost immediately, then found her late glory hauling wool from Australia in the 1880s, when she set records on the homeward runs. Today she is the last tea clipper left intact anywhere, which alone makes her worth a second look. The view that justifies the trip to Greenwich is not on deck but beneath it. After a fire during conservation work in 2007 nearly finished her off, she reopened in 2012 raised three metres above the floor of her dry dock on a glass canopy wrapped around the waterline, so you walk under a hull sheathed in golden-coloured metal, like passing beneath a whale suspended in mid-air. In the same space stands a collection of painted wooden figureheads from nineteenth-century ships, and a cafe sits directly under the hull serving tea, an irony anyone who knows the story will appreciate. Above that come three decks of exhibits: the tea hold in the belly, cramped crew quarters, and an open weather deck under the masts with the towers of Canary Wharf across the river. The ship is smaller than her fame suggests; an hour and a half is plenty, and children get more from the wheel and the rigging than from the panels. Lifts reach the main decks (only the small anchor deck is stairs-only) and there is buggy parking in the dry dock, so families manage easily. For the adventurous there is a separate rig climb at 56 pounds, open from age eight and including ship entry. Adults pay 22 pounds and children 11, and booking online ahead is strongly advised in the summer holidays since walk-up tickets depend on availability. Take the DLR to Cutty Sark station, two minutes on foot, or arrive the handsome way by river boat from Westminster or Tower Pier to Greenwich Pier next door. Pair it with the Royal Observatory on the 38-pound day pass, add the free National Maritime Museum and Greenwich Market, and you have a full day away from the crush of central London.
Raised three metres on a glass canopy, the ship lets you pass beneath her golden-coloured hull for the best view in the place.
Built in 1869 to race steamers with tea from China, she later set records carrying wool home from Australia.
A collection of painted wooden figureheads and a tea cafe, both in the dry dock beneath the ship.
King William Walk, Greenwich, London SE10 9HT
From outside you see the masts and hull at quay level for free, and that is enough if you are short of time; but walking beneath the raised hull is ticket-only and it is the part that stays with you. With children, or on the day pass with the Observatory, the value is clear; a solo visitor in a hurry could reasonably settle for the free National Maritime Museum next door.
Yes: lifts reach the main decks and there is buggy parking in the dry dock, though the top deck is open to the weather so allow for rain. Under-eights cannot do the rig climb, and the ship's cafe serves children's meals.
