First viewed : 11 October 1982
Normal programming was suspended on Monday 11th October 1982 for coverage of the lifting of the Tudor warship, the Mary Rose, from the bottom of the Solent. The remains of the ship had been discovered just over a decade earlier and since then a Trust headed by Prince Charles had worked to raise the ship to the surface. It had originally been planned for the day before but technical hitches postponed it for 24 hours.
I saw some of the broadcast in the morning before setting off for school but not the lift itself which had taken place before I got back. I remember that the firm who made the steel cradle around the hull, Babcock Construction, had painted their name on it on the side facing the shore. They got their come-uppance for the shameless product placement when one of the supports buckled under the strain , a heart-stopping moment for the onlookers but it did not damage the wreck.
The Mary Rose is now a major tourist attraction in Portsmouth. I've never actually seen it but funnily enough, I have been to the only comparably resurrected ship, the Vasa in Stockholm.
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