Cutty Sark Historic Trading Partners
25 April 2012
Cutty Sark Relaunches April 26th, 2012
John Willis - "His ambition was for the Cutty Sark to be the fastest ship in the annual race to bring home the first of the new season's tea from China"
Cutty Sark - The Fastest Tea Clipper
Cutty Sark, arguably one
of the most famous ships in the world has been re-launched, April
26th, 2012, as a living testimony to the bygone days of sail and
more importantly as a monument to those that lost their lives in
the merchant service.
The re-launch of this astonishing
vessel allows you to venture both below and aboard the three-masted
sailing ship, showing you the spectacular design that made this
ship so successful.
GO TO: FIRST VOYAGE | LOADING THE TEA CLIPPER | VISIT THE CUTTY SARK | WHY THE
CUTTY SARK AND TWININGS | SEE THE TWININGS
CUTTY SARK TEAS
White Hat Willis, Cutty Sarks Owner
The ship, Cutty Sark was
originally built for "White Hat Willis", so named because he always
wore a white top hat. His ambition was for the Cutty Sark to
be the fastest ship in the annual race to bring home the first of
the new season's tea from China.
The ship was built and launched in
Dumbarton, Scotland in 1869 and embarked upon its first tea voyage
to the far east in 1870. The Cutty Sark continued to
transport tea until 1877 at which point she was consigned to carry
various cargoes to and from London, Japan, Singapore, India
and the Phillipines.
First
Voyage
The first voyage to China to bring
tea to Britain was a long one - an eight month round trip.
She set sail on 16th February 1870 for Shanghai via the
Cape of Good Hope. According to the Captain's log of the time
she was carrying wine, spirits and beer, destined for the far
east. She arrived in Shanghai and was listed in the North
China Herald on 2nd June 1870. She then departed
on 25th June with an astonishing 1450 tons of tea on
board. That's enough tea to fill 580million tea bags as we
know them today. Cutty Sark then arrived back in
London on 13th October 1870, completing her first of
eight successful voyages to China in pursuit if tea.
The first voyage to China to bring
tea to Britain was a long one - an eight month round trip.
She set sail on 16th February 1870 for Shanghai via the
Cape of Good Hope. According to the Captain's log of the time
she was carrying wine, spirits and beer, destined for the far
east. She arrived in Shanghai and was listed in the North
China Herald on 2nd June 1870. She then departed
on 25th June with an astonishing 1450 tons of tea on
board. That's enough tea to fill 580million tea bags as we
know them today. Cutty Sark then arrived back in
London on 13th October 1870, completing her first of
eight successful voyages to China in pursuit if tea.
The closest Cutty Sark
came to winning the tea race was in 1872. On arriving in
Shanghai in late May 1872, she met a rival ship, the Thermopylae
when loading her tea cargo. They both set sell on
17th June 1872 and were closely matched for much of the
journey. Thanks to a strong tail wind, by 7th
august, Cutty Sark had a 400mile lead on the Thermopylae,
however disaster struck on 15th August, when her rudder
gave way. Having reconstructed the rudder twice in heavy
seas, she made it back to London on 19th October, 7days
after the Thermopylae.
Sadly, Cutty Sark never
came this close again and in 1877 she moved on to other cargo
transportation including travelling to and from Australia carrying
the likes of coal and wool.
Following a number of transfers of
ownership and undergoing a couple of restorations, sadly following
a closure to the public in 2006 for restoration, she suffered a
major fire onboard in 2007 causing considerable damage, delays and
drainage of funds. Thankfully, following an extraordinary
uplift grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund, restoration is now
complete and this magnificent ship is open to the public once more
and looking for majestic than ever.
Book your tickets
to visit Cutty Sark.
A Shared History Cutty Sark
and Twinings?
With the restoration of the Cutty
Sark now complete, she stands open to the public as the last
surviving tea clipper in existence. The history of
transporting tea from the Far East to Britain, the fierce rivalries
to pick up the best price for the first teas and the simply
extraordinary lengths that these merchant sailors went to are an
important part of how tea first came to Britain and the reason it
has become such an institution for us as a nation today.
Therefore, we are delighted to
introduce our exciting new Cutty Sark Caddy range.
Cutty Sark Teas - two
blends, Cutty Sark Black and Cutty Sark Green
This is an exclusive range of 2 teas;
The first is a traditional blend of
tea in China. This Twinings blend is a marriage of two of
China's most famous types of black tea; a rich black tea from the
Yunnan province, which with its strength and caramel sweetness
partners perfectly with the more complex flavours of the Keemun tea
from the Anhui province of China. This is simply delicious on
its own, or with a dash of milk and ideal with something sweet,
perhaps some biscuits, cakes or pastries.
The second tea is a delicious
Gunpowder Green Tea. This has been hugely popular in Britain
since the 18th century and was one of the original teas
brought over from China by the Cutty Sark. This particular
tea is sourced from the Hunan province of China and is typically
drunk on its own. These tealeaves have been pan fried,
resulting in the leaves curling up into tight pellets that bear an
uncanny resemblance to the gunpowder shots of the 18th
century, hence the name. When brewed, this delicate tea will
unfurl, delivering a beautifully soft and balanced green tea
flavour - deliciously refreshing.
Buy these tin caddies
filled with tea from the Twinings online tea shop
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