17 April – 22 May 2013

Maritime Lecture Series​ (Merseyside Maritime Museum)

A series of six public lectures reconsidering Liverpool’s whaling history, and its connections with Herman Melville. More information.

Liverpool Whale Trail​ (Merseyside Maritime Museum)

Have a whale of a time following a trail of exhibits about Liverpool and whaling around the Maritime Museum! ​

Saturday 4 May

Liverpool’s Whaling Past​ (11am Museum of Liverpool)

Find out about Liverpool’s whaling past and the whalebone on our timeline in this gallery talk. For Adults.​​

Model Magic ​(1pm-4pm Seized! Merseyside Maritime Museum)

A look at endangered animals – including whales -from the point of view of customs officers trying to protect animals. Make a clay animal model to take home, colouring and dresssing up for young ones. Family Friendly.

Animals at Sea in the Middle Ages: The Chester Noah Play​ (1pm-1.30pm ​Anthony Walker Education Centre, Merseyside Maritime Museum, 3rd Floor)

Andrea Young talks about how the play staged the building and sailing of a ship and how it might have looked with the ‘animals’ at sea. Drop in on the day before the performance of the play itself.​

The Chester Noah Play (1.30pm-1.50pm and 2.30pm-2.50pm ​Merseyside Maritime Museum)

First performed 600 years ago, this medieval play is a short, family friendly version of the comedy of Noah and the Great Flood. Spectators will be pleasantly surprised by how funny this play is and how easy to follow. From the School of English, University of Liverpool. Family Friendly.​​

Scrimshaw in the Age of Moby-Dick​ (3pm-4pm ​Merseyside Maritime Museum)

​Scrimshaw was a craft that began on whaling ships and involved carving, cutting and polishing whale teeth and bones to make beautiful objects. You can see examples in the Museum and this illustrated talk by Dr Janet West, of the Scott Polar research Institute, will tell you all about them. For Adults.

Tales of Whales and Whaling ​(Museum of Liverpool)

​Listen to tales of whales and whaling on the Mersey at intervals during the day – see website for details: http://www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/events/  Family Friendly.​

Sunday 5 May

Liverpool’s Whaling Past​ (11am Museum of Liverpool)

Find out about Liverpool’s whaling past and the whalebone on our timeline in this gallery talk. For Adults.​​

Shanty Kings (1pm and 2.30pm​ Museum of Liverpool)

Enjoy performances from the fantastic Liverpool Shanty Kings in the Museum of Liverpool’s atrium. Family Friendly.

Model Magic ​(1pm-4pm Seized! Merseyside Maritime Museum)

A look at endangered animals – including whales -from the point of view of customs officers trying to protect animals. Make a clay animal model to take home, colouring and dresssing up for young ones. Family Friendly.

Terror on the High Seas​ (2pm-3pm and 3.30pm-4.30pm​ Merseyside Maritime Museum)

Award-winning children’s author Jon Mayhew reveals his love of the sea and what lurks beneath! Expect spooky tales of the Mersey, terrible smells and shocking sights! Also a sneak preview of Jon’s about to be published book, Monster Odyssey. Family Friendly.​

​Monday 6 May​

Tales of Whales and Whaling ​(Museum of Liverpool)

​Listen to tales of whales and whaling on the Mersey at intervals during the day – see website for details: http://www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/events/  Family Friendly.​​

​Liverpool’s Whaling Past​ (11am Museum of Liverpool)

Find out about Liverpool’s whaling past and the whalebone on our timeline in this gallery talk. For Adults.

Save Our Species​ (1pm-4pm​ Seized! Merseyside Maritime Museum)

A look at endangered animals–including whales–from the point of view of customs officers trying to protect animals. Make a clay animal model to take home, colouring and dresssing up for young ones.​Family Friendly.​

​​’Sailors love this Liverpool’ Herman Melville and Liverpool in Fact and Fiction ​(2pm-3pm​ Museum of Liverpool)

Herman Melville visited Liverpool twice, and used the city as the setting for part of his 1849 novel Redburn, which describes the adventures of a young sailor on his first voyage. Examining both Melville’s real-life and literary dealings with the city, this talk by Katie McGettigan will look at what Melville might have experienced as a sailor visiting Liverpool in the 1840s, before exploring how Melville chose to represent the city and its people in his fiction.​

Here is a map of Melville’s Liverpool in the context of the modern city.​