The Mary Rose

We've been buying annual tickets for Portsmouth Historic Dockyard for the past three years, but after our experience on 3 October, I don't think we'll be going back.

We paid around £130 for family annual passes, not realising there was a large free event taking place that day. The place was absolutely rammed. It took around 25 minutes just to get through the entrance, and another 30 minutes to get a coffee.

I appreciate these events happen, but it would have been nice to have been made more aware when booking. We'd have happily picked another day.

What really ruined it, though, was an interaction with a member of staff outside the entrance.

I suggested that perhaps there should be separate queues for people visiting the paid attractions and those attending the free event. She started telling me that everyone needed their bags searched, which wasn't what I was suggesting at all.

I tried explaining, but we were clearly talking at cross purposes, so I walked away rather than get into an argument. She then actually followed me and continued challenging me about why I supposedly didn't want my bag searched.

I've never experienced anything quite like it at a family attraction. Completely unnecessary and really unpleasant.

We ended up leaving after about 90 minutes. £130 spent on annual passes, and we now don't feel comfortable going back.

I complained to the Dockyard that same morning. They apologised and said they'd passed the incident on for internal review, which I appreciate.

However, despite explaining why we left and why we no longer wanted to return, they've flatly refused any refund or even a goodwill gesture. Their reasoning is essentially that the attractions were available and our tickets are still valid.

I understand they have a refund policy, but I find that response pretty disappointing. We're not asking for our money back because we simply changed our minds. We left because of how we were treated.

After three years of visiting and supporting the attraction, I genuinely expected better.

Visit at your own risk.

We've been buying annual tickets for Portsmouth Historic Dockyard for the past three years, but after our experience on 3 October, I don't think we'll be going back.

We paid around £130 for family annual passes, not realising there was a large free event taking place that day. The place was absolutely rammed. It took around 25 minutes just to get through the entrance, and another 30 minutes to get a coffee.

I appreciate these events happen, but it would have been nice to have been made more aware when booking. We'd have happily picked another day.

What really ruined it, though, was an interaction with a member of staff outside the entrance.

I suggested that perhaps there should be separate queues for people visiting the paid attractions and those attending the free event. She started telling me that everyone needed their bags searched, which wasn't what I was suggesting at all.

I tried explaining, but we were clearly talking at cross purposes, so I walked away rather than get into an argument. She then actually followed me and continued challenging me about why I supposedly didn't want my bag searched.

I've never experienced anything quite like it at a family attraction. Completely unnecessary and really unpleasant.

We ended up leaving after about 90 minutes. £130 spent on annual passes, and we now don't feel comfortable going back.

I complained to the Dockyard that same morning. They apologised and said they'd passed the incident on for internal review, which I appreciate.

However, despite explaining why we left and why we no longer wanted to return, they've flatly refused any refund or even a goodwill gesture. Their reasoning is essentially that the attractions were available and our tickets are still valid.

I understand they have a refund policy, but I find that response pretty disappointing. We're not asking for our money back because we simply changed our minds. We left because of how we were treated.

After three years of visiting and supporting the attraction, I genuinely expected better.

Visit at your own risk.

Recently, I visited the Mary rose museum in Portsmouth.

The Mary Rose was Henry VIII’s flagship. It was the first ship that was made under Henry’s rule, many people have speculated it was named after his sister but in actual fact it was named after Saint Mary and the Tudor Rose. It required about 600 oak and elm trees to build which combined with the building of the rest of the fleet virtually destroyed most of the forests of England.

The Mary Rose sank during the battle of the Solent, which was one of the two ‘proper’ naval battles that was fought under the reign of Henry VIII. It is unclear why, but there are many theories, such as the gun ports being left open in a manoeuvre, the gun ports being too close to the water, and a gust of wind hitting the ship while it did a turning manoeuvre. Regardless of which theory was correct when It sunk it claimed the lives of around 400 people with it, which was most of the crew. The reason behind such a high death rate was that there was anti boarding netting surrounding the ship, which trapped the sailors stopping them escaping the sinking ship. The Mary Rose was partially buried in the seabed. This meant that the submerged part of the wreck was protected from wood eating creatures preserving it to this day. The wreck was found in 1982, raised, and now lies in the Mary Rose Museum in Portsmouth.

I found the trip very informative. I very much enjoyed learning about how life was like on a Tudor ship. I was very impressed how the museum showed and explained the findings of where the skeletons they found had come from which scientists discovered using the strontium value of the skeletons and matching it to areas around the world. The also were able to discover what professions each individual had by looking at the bones, for example professions like archery had an impact on the shoulder bones creating fused shoulder blades. I found that this was presented in a very interesting and clear way. I thought the view of the wreck itself to be very good, especially as it was supplemented by relevant artefacts in the viewing tunnel.

However, while the overall experience is outstanding, I feel that some improvement that can be made with the museum. When you enter the museum, you are required to watch video which describes the Mary Rose and its history. This video gives us information about the Mary Rose’s history and context on the battle of the Solent. While this is great, I feel this information could be better placed elsewhere. I found the video to be a little too long, and so it lost the attention of the viewers. I also feel that the museum layout was very confusing, as it had two parts on each floor. I found the layout of the display cabinets meant that it was hard to see all the brilliant content they have up to offer.

Overall, I found the Mary Rose Museum to be a solid 4/5, as it has very informative displays, a brilliant view of the wreck and a great café, however there are some improvements still to be made, such as making a clear route around the museum to make sure information is not missed, and incorporate the information in the video shown at entry into the museum.