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From the
https://www.kentonline.co.uk By Keely Greenwood, 23 January 2024.
Sir Michael Palin unveils plaque to Franklin’s lost expedition at Sir
John Franklin pub in Greenhithe.
He famously travelled around the world in 80 days but today Sir Michael
Palin has alighted at a pub in Kent on an “emotional” mission.
The globetrotting broadcaster paid a visit to the county to unveil a
plaque in honour of a group of arctic explorers at the site of their
last farewell.
Sir Michael Palin unveilved a plaque to honour the 1845 Franklin
Expedition.
Sir Michael, who found fame as a TV actor and a member of the Monty
Python comedy group, dropped in at the Sir John Franklin pub in Greenhithe High Street to commemorate the spot where the ill-fated
Franklin Expedition first set sail.
In 1845, a British voyage of Arctic exploration led by captain Sir John
Franklin departed England aboard two ships – HMS Erebus and HMS Terror –
for the virgin exploration of the Northwest passage in the Canadian
Arctic but would never return after becoming icebound.
The veteran presenter, who has written a book and hosted podcasts on the
subject, spoke of his fascination with the tale of the two ships.
He told KentOnline: “Greenhithe is a very significant place in the story
of Erebus and Terror.
“People said farewell to Sir John Franklin and his sailors here. They
were going off into the unknown and they never came back.
“This was their last port of call and the last time a lot of their
families would have seen them. It is freighted with significance as it
was the last time they would celebrate together. It’s very emotional.”
He added: “I wrote about the Sir John Franklin pub in my book and it’s
good to come and see it for real.”
Sir Michael, who penned Erebus, The Story of a Ship, about the
disastrous journey, said he found the story particularly fascinating
“because it’s one that has never been told”.
“You learn about Drake and Raleigh at school but you don’t learn about
this one,” the 80-year-old documentary maker said.
“The expedition to the North West passage was considered very important.
It had not been done before.”
The ships were lost at sea and only recovered in 2014, with many
unanswered questions.
The plaque commemorating the start of the ill-fated Franklin Expedition
behind the Sir John Franklin pub in High Street, Greenhithe.
“It’s a mystery,” Sir Michael said. “What went wrong and why? Where are
all the ships documents which might hold the answers.
“People want to solve the mystery.”
Councillor Drew Swinerd spearheaded the idea to commemorate the
expedition on its 175th birthday in 2020.
“Apart from the name of the pub and the picture of Sir John Franklin
there is no outward clue whatsoever that Sir John Franklin left this
place in 1845 so a permanent plaque seemed like a much more reliable
means of commemorating this,” he said.
“Of course pubs change names, and pubs change owners and increasingly
pubs cease to be pubs so this plaque will hopefully be here for a very
long time indeed.”
He added: “We appreciate objects that tell us a thing or two about where
we are and its history and they are important in telling our national
story.
“It gives a place some meaning which it wouldn’t otherwise have.
“The shoreline here does not strike one as a place of historical
significance but the plaque will do that.
“It enables people to use their imagination to come here and see for
themselves in their own minds the Erebus and The Terror out on the river
before they started their journey into the North Sea.” |
