On 18th October the 6th 7th and 13th Tonbridge Brownies embarked on an adventure to “Kip on a Ship” – a sleepover on HMS Belfast. The trip was led by Rainbow Owl, with Summer Owl, Emu, Snowy, Bluebird and Brown Owl.
The train journey to London Bridge was super exciting because we had a carriage specially reserved for us – just as well because with 31 Brownies, 4 Guides and 6 leaders, we pretty much filled it. Having had a packed tea on the train, it was a short walk to HMS Belfast on the Thames, and we had a lovely time above deck, enjoying beautiful weather, a spectacular harvest moon rising above the Tower of London, and the lights of Tower Bridge and the banks of the Thames.
We had a bit of training on safely going up and down ladders (there are a lot of ladders on board!) on the way down to our sleeping quarters down in the bowels of the battleship, and the girls chose their bunks in the surprisingly spacious sleeping quarters.
We had a talk on the history of the battleship; HMS Belfast dates back to 1938 and took part in D Day. She used to house over 1000 people, and we were shown how sailors used to sleep in rotation, in hammocks. We tried on some original Captain’s and Rating’s uniform. The groups were split in half for a tour of the ship, and decorating Ship’s mugs to take home. We learned about morse code, saw the Captain’s navigating deck and got to sit in the Captain’s chair, as well as the communications room, where food was stored, and lots of areas not open to the public.
The Brownies were excited to sleep in bunks and had a hearty breakfast in the ship’s cafeteria which used to house reconnaissance planes. We were allowed onto the deck at the bow of the boat and took some photographs of the huge cannons that are still in place.
There was another talk on some of the places that the Belfast went to when it was in service, including being part of the artic convoys and we got to try on genuine world war two cold weather gear and handle some objects that were used when the ship was in operation, including a mobile morse code lamp, and the protective coverings used by the Stokers.
The shop is always the highlight of a trip, and then we went back to London Bridge where the girls enjoyed an activity book all about HMS Belfast on the train, including miniature semaphore flags, put together by Snowy.
Victoria
Brown Owl
