To celebrate National Story-telling this week, the Education team from the Royal Navy Submarine Museum in Gosport are bringing together different generations of local residents to share their stories of living in Gosport. Memories of the past and their connections to the submarine service, which was based in Gosport for nearly 100 years, will be shared with local school children.

 

Gareth Brettell, Learning Manager at the Royal Navy Submarine Museum said ‘There is a rich tradition of storytelling in the Royal Navy and this project enables both young and older members of the local community to share their own stories with each other." 

 

Submariner and Gosport resident Terry Fearnley, who served on HMS Alliance the historic WW2 era submarine that is sited at the Submarine Museum during the 1970s will share his memories of living on board a submarine and working beneath the waves.  His wife, Chris Fearnley also describes her memories as a submariners wife and remembers how even a cake Terry brought back as a gift from his travels on a submarine actually tasted of diesel.

 

As part of National Story-telling Week, school children from Gomer Infants, Elson Infants and St John's Primary schools in Gosport inspired by the local stories will also be creating their own adventures to accompany knitted dolphin and submarine characters made by local knitters.  Each toy dolphin and submarine has its own passport indicating different features, its name and age and where the toy has travelled to on its adventures. The stories or ‘dits' as they are called in the Royal Navy, will be displayed alongside the knitted toys at the Submarine Museum.

 

This story telling project is part of the wider community project to conserve the WW2 era submarine HMS Alliance. HMS Alliance is currently closed as internal works are completed ready for a grand re-opening on April. The Submarine Museum however is open, visitors can go on board Holland 1, the Royal Navy's very first submarine launched in 1901 and see the only surviving midget submarine from WW2.  For more information visit www.submarine-museum.co.uk or call 023 92510354.