|
| |
The Pilgrim Town Crier returns to his ship
Warwick and Belinda Charlton
The Pilgrim returns to his ship this month, when Ringwood Town Crier Warwick Charlton
and his publicist wife, Belinda take a British Airways flight to Plymouth, Massachusetts
to sail to Provincetown on the Mayflower II, the ship Warwick built and sailed to America
43 years ago.
Warwick (82) from Avon Castle, Ringwood will be guest of honour to commemorate the 380th
anniversary of the Mayflower's first landfall at Provincetown, and will head a second
voyage for his ship from Plymouth Massachusetts to Provincetown, with ten of the surviving
original crew, all men now in their seventies and eighties.
Said Warwick Charlton: "It will be a remarkable experience. I will be reunited with
my ship sailing for the first time in 43 years. Although we are getting pretty old, I
don't think we shall have any problems, and I expect there will be some youngsters around
to give us a hand. I have done a lot of things since Mayflower, but she will always have a
very special place in my heart."
Provincetown is where the original Mayflower made first land fall when it arrived America
in 1625, it then sailed on to Plymouth, Massachusetts where the Founding Fathers made
their first settlement.
Forty three years ago, Warwick, built, equipped, funded and sailed on the Mayflower II as
a post was symbol of Anglo/American unity. The ship sailed from Plymouth ~ England to
Plymouth ~ Massachusetts, after 56 days at sea made first land fall at Provincetown.
He donated the ship to Plymouth Plantation, at Plymouth, Massachusetts, a historical trust
where it has since remained as the centrepiece to a recreation of the original Pilgrim
settlement, which now attracts a million visitors a year.
Ten members of the original 32 strong Mayflower II crew dressed in Pilgrim costume will be
flying out at the end of the month to sail on the ship and celebrate their reunion and the
anniversary of Provincetown.
In 1997 the crew of Mayflower II celebrated their 40th anniversary in Plymouth, England,
when President Clinton and Hilary Clinton send Warwick Charlton a personal message of
commendation for his contribution to Anglo/American relations. The Governor of the
Commonwealth of Massachusetts also sent a Proclamation making June 13th, the day the ship
docked in Plymouth, Mayflower II Day.
13th July 2000
|
