Last updated at 20:13, Thursday, 22 March 2012

People will have their first chance to see Maryport’s Titanic exhibition on Friday.

Title
Author
Copyright

Description

Maryport to the Titanic, which will feature two of the iconic dresses worn by actress Kate Winslet in the hit film Titanic, opens at the town’s Wave Centre at 11am.

Visitors will be able to see the results of months of work by volunteers from Maryport Maritime Museum.

They have constructed a replica of the Titanic’s first class restaurant and a third class cabin.

The exhibition will feature other mementoes from the film Titanic, and original tools that were used to carve the ship’s luxury staircase.

The tools have been donated to the museum byJohn and Barbara Wardle, of Worcester.

They belonged to wood carver Arthur Alfred Austin, who was born in London in 1892 and who worked on the Titanic staircase as an apprentice in his brother-in-law’s firm, Singletons.

Mr Wardle was given the tools by Arthur’s grandson, Eric, who was a colleague.

Mr Wardle said: “We thought we would like to donate the tools to the museum. They are better off here.”

Mrs Wardle added: “We feel they are where they belong.”

The exhibition will also recount Maryport’s maritime history and its links to the Titanic, which sank 100 years ago.

The founder of the White Star Line, the Titanic’s parent company, was Thomas Ismay, who was born and bred in Maryport.

The White Star Line is irrevocably linked with its flagship vessel Titanic, which had been described as “the ship that even God couldn’t sink”.

The exhibition runs until May 13 and will coincide with several Maryport events to mark the night when the Titanic hit an iceberg and sank with the loss of 1,517 lives.

There will be a church service at Christ Church at 2pm on April 14.

Also on that day, ham radio operators will contact people at Titanic sites all across the world, including Nova Scotia, where the first Mayday messages about the sinking were received.

Students from Lillyhall’s Lakes College have organised two dinners at the Wave Centre, serving the food that diners in the first-class restaurant on the Titanic would have enjoyed.

The first dinner, to be held tonight, is fully booked and the second, on May 11, had only two places remaining as the Times & Star went to press last night.

To book, call the Wave Centre on 01900 811450.

First published at 19:24, Thursday, 22 March 2012
Published by http://www.timesandstar.co.uk