“Intermezzo String Quartet” which comprises Aiden Berry, along with musicians Becky Jay, Theresa Zar, and Becky Benfield, will be playing music early in the evening and during the Gala Dinner.  They will return later to perform again at our memorial service to play “Nearer thy God to Thee”.

We are delighted to have them join us for this very special occasion.

We have chartered for our exclusive use the magnificent Blue Funnel catamaran MV Ocean Scene. During our 90-minute cruise, we plan to replicate the start of Titanic’s one and only voyage, shipping movements permitting.  We intend to visit Ocean Dock to drop a wreath on the water and afterwards will sail past berth 38/39 where the near-collision with the New York occurred. From there we visit berths 106/108, Southampton’s maritime “Death Row,” where both Olympic and Mauretania were laid-up prior to their demise in 1935, and will then spend some time cruising down the River Itchen.

In addition to dropping the society wreath for this centennial year, we thought it would be rather lovely if each member had his or her own individual symbol of remembrance to scatter on the water.  Each person taking part in the river cruise will receive a simple red or white carnation, for casting over the ship’s side.  There will then be a playing of Erin’s Lament on the Uilleann pipes by Steve Turner, an Uilleann piper and reed-maker based in Portsmouth.  Steve was guest tutor at the Na Piobairi Uilleann (Irish Pipers’ Society) gathering in 2011.

We have received requests from members who are not attending the convention as delegates, to join in this.  Fortunately we expect to have some extra places for the cruise.

Tickets will cost £15 per person, plus £1 P&P per order. Note – if paying by PayPal a small amount will be added to cover the costs that PayPal charge for using their service.

The fastest way to obtain tickets is by paying by PayPal (see link below), tickets will be dispatched to you within a few days of payment.

At the moment we are also accepting payment by cheque, please make the cheque out to the British Titanic Society and add £1 for P&P per order, and post to the society’s address.  As soon as the cheque has cleared, your tickets will be dispatched to yout.  Note – please make it clear this is payment for the River Cruise, and state the name/s; they will be printed on the tickets.

Because we need to post the tickets out to you, the above two methods will not be available as we near the convention, so any remaining tickets will be sold on our Sales Desk on the Saturday at the convention.

We expect demand for these tickets to be high, so we would advise anyone wishing to come on this to purchase the tickets as soon as possible. It may be that by convention day there will be none left.

With the tickets will be full details of how to join the cruise – At the dockside at Ocean Village @ 10:15am on Sunday the 15th April 2012. Note – there is a min. age of 14 for this event, and there is a limit of 2 tickets max. per order.

Please use this link to pay by PayPal.

River Cruise

I person £16.80 GBP 2 persons £32.30 GBP

Enter Full Name/s

This Black Tie / Titanic / Edwardian themed dinner, is being held in the Mayflower Suite of the hotel, and we are pleased to announce that our event will be attended by ‘Emotive Event Portraits’, based at Bournemouth. They are a specialist events photographers, and are also a member of the Event Photographer Society.

Photographs will be taken in the foyer of the Mayflower Suite, starting at 5pm.

We have been advised of this YouTube video about a new exhibition opening this April in Cherbourg at the Cité de la Mer.

We know that are delegates at our convention are likely to want to visit to see “Southampton’s Titanic Story” and “Special Exhibition – Titanic the Legend”.

We have been notified that it is advisable to book the tickets in advance as the demand is likely to be quite high during this period.

Here is a link to a Southampton Council website that has details of the opening times, costs, and how to book.

Link

To visit our main Convention 2012 page Click Here

Our Convention 2011 was visited by a number of film crews.   The above YouTube video shows the work of film makers Chris Bloomfield, Dan Harling and Sophie Kane.

The described their works as,

The sinking of this great ship affected every street in Southampton. Members of the British Titanic Society discuss how the city commemorates this event.

The Societies’ Convention for 2012, which marks the centenary of the loss of Titanic, is being held at De Vere Grand Harbour hotel, Southampton, from Thursday the 12th April to Sunday the 15th.

The Sales Fair which is open to the general public, is being held on Saturday the 14th, from 9.00am to 4.00pm, in the Mayflower Suite of the hotel, and will have dealers offering a wide selection of antique, vintage and collectable items relating to the White Star Line, Cunard, other shipping lines, ocean liners, general shipping and maritime. The Society will also have its own table so that members can purchase British Titanic Society merchandise.

Alongside the Sales Fair they will also be an Exhibition and Lectures. This is open to the public, and price of admission is £3.00, £2.00 concessions, payable at the door.

To visit our main Convention 2012 page Click Here

We would also congratulate Una Reilly, Chairman of the Belfast Titanic Society on her MBE for services to the Maritime and Industrial Heritage in Northern Ireland.  Una attended our Convention in Southampton in 2011 and we are delighted that she has been awarded this well deserved honour in the 2012 New Year’s Honours List.

This year marks the centenary of the loss of Titanic and our Convention in April will be themed on “A Time To Remember”.  Bookings for this event are very busy and we would advise all members to book now, to make sure they have their place at this once in a lifetime event.

The Trustees of the Millvina Fund are pleased to announce that a garden honouring the memory of the final Titanic survivor, Millvina Dean, will be created and dedicated in time for Titanic’s 2012 centennial.

The Millvina Fund, originally created to assist with Millvina’s nursing home care costs, attracted donations from all over the world, including generous contributions from actors Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet and film producer James Cameron.

When Millvina died, the Fund’s Trustees – Una Reilly of the Belfast Titanic Society, David Hill of the British Titanic Society and Charles Haas of the Titanic International Society in the USA, contacted all donors to request permission to modify the Fund’s purpose to permit creation of a permanent memorial tribute to Millvina, and all but a handful of donors agreed to the change, with donation refunds sent to those disagreeing.

The garden will be accorded a prime location adjacent to the main entrance of the new Sea City Museum now being constructed at Southampton’s Civic Centre. The Museum, which will tell Titanic’s story from the city’s unique local perspective to tens of thousands of annual visitors, will itself open in April 2012.

The Fund’s Trustees have worked in close cooperation with the Southampton City Council, with Cliff Brown, Parks Development Officer of the city’s Environment Directorate, and the city’s professional landscape designers to create a garden in the form of an ellipse surrounded by a privet hedge, accompanied by a wide variety of perennial flowers and shrubs known for their color, fragrance and varying visual textures. The hedge will enclose a grassy area, with two curved stone benches facing each other across the ellipse’s longest dimension, and in the center of the garden will be a granite plinth, dedicating the garden. On its sloping upper surface will appear the etched words,

THIS GARDEN IS DEDICATED IN MEMORY OF
MILLVINA DEAN
THE YOUNGEST AND FINAL TITANIC SURVIVOR
2 FEBRUARY 1912 – 31 MAY 2009
“HAVE A KIND HEART AND
A SENSE OF HUMOUR.”

Fittingly, the design for the stone’s shape, independently chosen by Southampton’s design team, echoes the shape of the stones for Titanic’s victims buried in Halifax, Nova Scotia, though the garden’s stone will be taller, at one meter (39”) high. Any funding remaining after actual construction costs have been met will endow a fund for periodic replantings and maintenance of the area.

The Millvina Fund’s Trustees feel this lovely permanent garden will be a fitting tribute to Millvina, very much in keeping with her preference for informality and her love of flowers, while adding beauty and a place for reflection and relaxation to her hometown and Titanic’s home port. They hope that museum visitors will take time to visit the garden and reflect upon Millvina’s long life, her cheerful personality and her love of people.