Talk by Clive Burlton in February 2022. Report by Stephen Griffiths.
On the 2nd of May 1497 John Cabot, generously funded by Bristol Merchant Venturers, sailed from Bristol in the little ship Matthew into the wide Atlantic Ocean. His chosen destination was Japan, but he was frustrated by a large and rather obtrusive land mass, so he returned telling tales of a new-found land. The following year he led a larger expedition to explore and survey further. Nobody knows what became of this expedition. Could it have sailed over the edge of the Earth? On the 2nd of May 1997 the little ship Matthew, an ‘operational representation’ of the original (we were told not to call it a replica), sailed across the Atlantic, quietly confident of not going over the edge, to mark the 500th anniversary of the discovery of Newfoundland. Clive Burlton told the story of the new Matthew to the February meeting of the Society.
In 1990, Bristol had lost out to Glasgow in being the European city of culture. Apparently it had no real ‘flagship’ (like Rab C Nesbitt) from which to hang its bid. Martyn Heighton came up with the idea of creating a real flagship by building the Matthew, generously funded by a successful property development company, ready for the 500th anniversary in 1997. Colin Mudie, a naval architect who had previously worked on the restoration of the Mary Rose, was tasked with the design. Using his knowledge, a few medieval woodcuts, and scraps of contemporary records the Matthew was gradually brought back to life at Redcliffe Wharf.
Clive ran an interesting film about the building of the Matthew, showing the large oak frames laid across the massive keel, the fitting of the three-quarter-ton oak rudder, and the seating of the main mast, carved from a single Scots Pine, on top of a 500 year old gold coin embedded in the keel. To make navigation less reliant on capricious winds a diesel engine had also been installed, but a fortunate breeze allowed the Matthew to take a first trip down the Avon Gorge under sail. However, a fundraising jaunt to London had to be delayed while health and safety regulations, which had advanced a little since 1497, were satisfied.
The big test was yet to come. On the 2nd of May 1997 the Matthew set sail, with a joint UK/ Canadian crew, into some rather worrying Atlantic storms for a 50 ton vessel to handle. The journey took 50 days (the first 49 were needed to get your sea legs). One Sunday a strange event took place. The crew had taken to eating Sunday roast down below, dressed in full medieval costume. This particular Sunday a Canadian Fisheries Protection vessel pulled alongside an apparently abandoned medieval ship. The lost 1498 expedition? Imagine the scene when 18 medieval sailors scrambled up on deck.
A new film to mark the 25th birthday of the Matthew will show ‘A year in the life of the Matthew’, including the maintenance she undergoes each year at the Underfall Yard in Bristol docks, and the work of the many volunteers who help to run the ship. They plan to use the ship as an educational tool to engage with secondary school children who can learn all about medieval ship building and navigation. It is fitting that the Matthew is continuing to work for a living, just like the original, which, after its momentous discovery of Newfoundland, went back to carrying 50 tuns of Bordeaux wine into the port of Bristol.