The Mary Rose: coming to a village hall near you!

For over 40 years a network of speakers across the country have been delivering talks on the Mary Rose in local venues, bringing to life the fascinating history of its career as a key part of Henry VIII’s fleet and the spectacular tale of its discovery, excavation and famous salvage.

With its location at Portsmouth Historic Dockyard, it can be a challenge for interested parties from farther afield to reach the museum itself. With that in mind, a network of volunteer expert speakers – the Mary Rose Information Group (MRIG) – is located around the UK, so the that museum can, in effect, come to you. Usually, the speakers conduct talks in venues such as village halls, community centres and other similar locations. All the venues need is a projector, a screen upon which the speaker can display their PowerPoint presentations and supporting items, and enough seats for what, hopefully, will be a hugely expectant and enthusiastic audience!

Different groups sometimes want a different emphasis for their talks. A historical society may prefer, for example, a scholarly lecture on how the Mary Rose played its part in fulfilling Henrician foreign policy. Other groups may be particularly interested in the behind-the-scenes stories of the extensive search for the wreck, its meticulous excavation and eventual raising (indeed, several MRIG speakers are divers who took part in the investigation and salvage of the remains) while most groups are happy to hear the whole story, from the ship’s launch from Portsmouth in July 1511 to its return to that same city in October 1982. Whatever the group’s preference, rest assured, each MRIG speaker is adept in all aspects of the Mary Rose story and will deliver a compelling and interesting talk.

Should your group be interested in making a booking then a minimum fee of £75 for up to 100 attendees is payable (for audiences of 100+ an additional £2 per head is charged). Usually, this is paid directly to the speaker, who will then transfer the money to the Mary Rose Trust as a donation. Talks must be booked via the Mary Rose website or by a member of the Mary Rose Development Team. If this does not take place, then the Mary Rose Trust would not be aware that a donation is being sent for the talk. Groups are also expected to reimburse speakers directly for their travel costs to and from the talk, at a standard set rate indicated on the booking form.

While the MRIG network has a substantial reach across the country there are some regions that effectively are not covered, as there is no local MRIG speaker (such that reimbursement of travel costs for any MRIG speaker prepared to travel a substantial distance could be prohibitive). In this case talks may be conducted via video conferencing technology such as Zoom or Microsoft Teams.