Collaboration with Chatham Dockyard
A few months ago I received an email from Chatham Dockyard, they were looking for local designers to create pieces to be sold in their retail shops. Chatham Dockyard dates back to the 17th century with Chatham being a location for ship building that dates back to the Tudor period. The dockyard was operational until 1984 when it was closed.
I was so excited about this opportunity and visited the dockyard to for inspiration for the jewellery collection. I spent a day walking around the many different buildings and visited the vast collections. There 3 boats that visitors can explore; HMS Cavalier, HMS Gannet and the submarine HMS Ocelot.
The ropery is still operational today and spans about 1/4 mile. Rope has that classic nautical vibe, and I wanted to incorporate that into my jewellery collection.
The 3 Slip was built in 1838 and now houses a lots of collections from Chatham Historic Dockyard Trust, Royal Engineers Museum, Library and Archive, and Imperial War Museum collections. The architect is amazing and I was inspired by it in my designs.
I revisited the dockyard in the summer holidays with my daughter and partner. It's a fantastic day out for all ages. My daughter was very excited to see my jewellery on display in the gift shop. We spent a majority of the day at the dockyard, utilizing the soft play and two playgrounds, my daughter particularly enjoyed the Lego exhibition - 'Brickwrecks: Sunken Ships in LEGO® Bricks.'
If you are a fan of the BBC TV series 'Call The Midwife' you may already recognise the dockyard as many of the scenes are filmed there and you can visit for a location tour.
This is an exclusive jewellery collection sold only at Chatham Dockyard gift shop.
