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English Language studies. A majority of research for the timeline was done
in the college museum. The museum was created in 1999 - Jane says it wasn’t a relaxed affair: “We had six weeks to turn a classroom into a fully operational museum, as we wanted it to be opened by the Duke of Edinburgh on his 60th anniversary visit.” The room was refurbished in 2013 with funds raised from the sale of 150th anniversary swords! It has a variety of naval artefacts such as punishment records from HMS Britannia. Richard explains what students got up to back then: “A common crime was something called ‘skylarking’ a name given to any kind of schoolboy misdemeanours from talking in lectures to throwing bread at mealtimes. The punishments were usually labour intensive tasks like scrubbing the deck, but occasionally they were caned.” There are also scrapbooks from cadets who’ve passed through the college over the years, model ships and huge trunks used by students in the early 1900s (with compartments for their clothes, white canvas shoes and telescope). Jane, who lives in Paignton, has been at the college
place in maritime history; so much has happened here and we have a duty to look after that past. Each cadet is here for just a snapshot in time, but the college has been here for over 100 years and could be around for another 100 - we need to constantly keep sight of the bigger picture.” Richard was a lecturer here until he retired in 2014. He
“So here in 1939 we can see at the college Prince Philip first met Princess Elizabeth, war was declared by Neville Chamberlain and a little
later the first naval battle in the Second World War took place - The Battle of the River Plate.”
is now an honorary curator and volunteers his time, trav- elling in from Kingsbridge two or three times a week. “I love this place. It’s a real privilege to be able to work here, I don’t think I could give it up easily!” When he isn’t in the museum Richard is at home playing with trains. He has various models around the house and a working O guage railway in the garden! When the pair aren’t working on timelines or archives they are kept busy with enquiries about the col- lege’s alumni. “We always get people calling up to ask if their great grand- father or great uncle trained here. The number of calls has increased since the BBC programme, Who Do You Think You Are? It seems to have inspired many families to find out about their ancestry! It can be quite
since 1997 and says she knows more about students here in 1910 than the ones here today! “Paper records are dying out as more people use computers. I can tell you exactly how many people worked and studied at the college in 1950 but wouldn’t have a clue about 2018! There are no paper documents that are accessi- ble to me, it’s all on a database.” Jane is a full time lec- turer in strategic studies at the college. She also does the Heritage Ethos Tours when cadets first arrive. “What we do in the museum is secondary to the training, we know that, but it is important that someone is con- stantly working away in the background to protect and showcase the college’s past. It has such an important
a task for us if they don’t know the year and some are even a bit sketchy on the name!” Throughout the whole timeline we’re gently remind- ed of the Royal Navy’s ethos with the words ‘courage, commitment, discipline, respect, integrity and loyalty’ faintly written in the background. The display finishes near the beautiful wooden dining room with a 2018 picture of the new aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth undergoing sea trials out by the castle here in Dart- mouth. But it’s hoped that won’t be the final entry; the team has been careful to make sure there’s space for another board or two so the next chapters of life at the college can be recorded for future generations. Any volunteers email
britanniamuseum@hotmail.co.uk
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