Helping the Mary Rose Trust

When it opens in 2012, the new Mary Rose Museum in Portsmouth's Historic Dockyard will offer visitors an unparalleled experience of Tudor life. The new Museum is being built around the remains of King Henry VIII's warship, the Mary Rose, which was raised from the bottom of the Solent in 1982.  When complete it will house not only the famous ship herself but also some 14,000 beautifully conserved and unique artefacts that were recovered with her.

Since they were raised from the seabed, many of the unique and priceless artefacts which include the personal possessions of members of the crew that perished when the Mary Rose sank in 1545 have been kept at a number of sites within Portsmouth's Naval Base.  They are now being painstakingly conserved at a specially constructed conservation centre close to the site of the new museum.

To enable the artefacts, especially the heavier ones - including guns and the ship's anchors, to be transferred between the various sites safely and efficiently, the Mary Rose Trust has recently taken delivery of a refurbished counterbalanced forklift truck from the Jungheinrich Ready to Go range.

The truck, which was donated free of charge by Jungheinrich, is a 3000kg capacity electric counterbalance model EFG 430  and, like every truck in the Ready to Go range, it has been completely dismantled, cleaned inside and out and had all worn or defective parts including tyres and lift chains replaced before being repainted, reassembled and safety tested.

The forklift is finished with the logo of B&Q - a strong supporter of the Mary Rose Trust. Jungheinrich is the global supplier of materials handling to B&Q.

Dr Glenn McConnachie, Conservation Manager at the Mary Rose Trust, said: "We are delighted that Jungheinrich has generously donated the forklift truck.  It will be a crucial piece of kit to enable us to move these unique artefacts - many of which have never been seen by the public before.  Thanks to Jungheinrich, moving them into the new museum will be a lot easier".

Craig Johnson, marketing manager of Jungheinrich UK Ltd, comments: "We are delighted to be involved with the new Mary Rose Museum which is one of the most ambitious heritage construction projects seen in Europe for many years. It is pleasing to think that Jungheinrich has played a part in helping to bring the amazing history of the Mary Rose to life for future generations to enjoy."

The new Mary Rose Museum is scheduled for completion in Autumn 2012.