A visit to the Laing Gallery in Newcastle...

...to see the Turner exhibition...

Turner’s The Fighting Temeraire (1839), on loan from the National Gallery, is the centrepiece of the exhibition under the banner of  "Art, Industry and Nostalgia", which explores the rise of steam power and industry in Britain.

Admiral Collingwood singled out the Temeraire in his dispatches after the Battle of Trafalgar, hence its fame.

"Built from the wood of over sooo oaks, the Temeraire had played a significant part in the victorious Battle of Trafalgar in 1805, but by 1820 had been decommissioned. In the following decade, grand warships were being replaced by steamships and the vessel was sold by the Admiralty in June 1838. It took around two days to move the ship, using two paddle- wheel steam tugs named Samson and London. While it has been said that Turner encountered the Temeraire on its journey to the scrapyard, it is likely he recreated the scene using contemporary reports rather than having witnessed it. He included the masts of the warship to evoke grandeur, though by the time it was towed these had been removed along with all other re-usable parts."