View of Main Entrance to National Maritime Museum at Greenwich

Commemorations (2018)

Handmade Stone Tools from the Voyages of Captain Cook

Sotheby's upcoming sale, Royal & Noble on 17 January , features two remarkable relics from the voyages of Captain Cook.  Two Tahitian adze blades at first glance, seem quite ordinary, but reveal a remarkable history intertwined with the historical voyages made by Cook. Through the two documents accompanying the stones, we know that the present blades were used in the construction of a canoe for Cook while he was on the Island of Tahiti in 1769.

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Re-imagining Captain Cook – Pacific Perspectives (29 November 2018 – 4 August 2019)

250 years ago, James Cook left England on the first of three expeditions to the Pacific Ocean.  A skillful navigator, he visited many places new to Europeans and his voyage accounts were widely read and celebrated.  Today, his legacy is sometimes debated.  In the Pacific, Islanders continue to remember the encounters that occurred, re-imagining them in artworks which reflect on their impact. This exhibition at the British Museum runs 29 November 2018 to 4 August 2019.

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Plymouth Museum On Tour, 22 August 2018: Cook 250

If you regularly follow our blog or attend our events you’ll know that this week, 26 August to be precise, marks 250 years since Captain James Cook set sail from Plymouth on board the Endeavour on a voyage of exploration (1768-1771). His mission was two-fold: to record the 1769 Transit of Venus from Tahiti, which would help calculate the distance of the earth from the sun, and to search for a mysterious southern landmass that everyone was so curious about.

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Royal Mail Launches Cook 250 Commemorative Stamps

To mark the 250th anniversary since the greatest voyage of all time, Royal Mail has released a series of intricate stamps - and they're a collectors' dream.  A new collection of limited edition stamps have been released to mark the 250th anniversary of Captain Cook setting sail on one of the greatest voyages of discovery of all time.  Launched by the Royal Mail, the 10 designs each feature drawings, paintings and landscapes captured with nearly 100 men including astronomers, artists and scientists on board HM Bark Endeavour.

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Royal Mint Issues First of Three Official UK £2 James Cook Coins

To mark the 250th anniversary of Captain Cook’s most famous voyage, we are delighted to announce a new Captain Cook adventure! To mark the moment HM Bark Endeavour set sail in 1768, we have issued the first of three official UK £2 coins to be released over three years, charting the progress and unlocking the secrets of Cook’s epic voyage of discovery along the way.

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Cook 250 Whitby & Staithes Festival

Marking the 250th anniversary of Captain Cook’s first expedition to the South Seas, the Yorkshire towns of Whitby and Staithes will be hosting a weekend of merriments from July 6 to 8, and everyone’s on the crew! Learn how Whitby shaped James Cooks love of the sea sending him off with success in his sights with him and his crew making a true voyage of discovery.

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British Library Launches “James Cook: The Voyages”

It is 250 years since the Endeavour set sail from Plymouth. Our exhibition tells the story of Captain James Cook’s three world-changing voyages through original documents, many of which were produced by the artists, scientists and sailors on board the ships. Maps, artworks and journals from the voyages sit alongside newly-commissioned films offering contemporary perspectives.

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Chefs Recreate Captain Cook’s Meals

A celebration of the 250th anniversary of Captain James Cook’s first voyage will see chefs on Endeavour Wharf recreating some of the dishes that would have been eaten on board the ship from which it took its name. With a cargo of dry, salted beef, hardtack crackers and live goats, sheep and pigs, the vessel was a veritable Noah’s Ark ...

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Whitby Planning Captain Cook 250 Festival

James Cook learnt his trade as a seaman in Whitby where his famous vessel HM Bark Endeavour was built. Over the weekend of July 6-8, Whitby will be celebrating the 250th anniversary of the momentous first Pacific voyage of one of the world’s greatest explorers, and in doing so will kick start a series of nation-wide anniversary events.

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Liverpool’s Connection to Cook’s 1st Pacific Voyage

For those living in or visiting North West England in June 2018, save Saturday the 23rd for a fascinating presentation on Liverpool's connection to James Cook's 1st Pacific Voyage. Maritime historian and Captain Cook Society member Steve Ragnall will give a free presentation entitled 'The Master of Endeavour - Liverpool and Captain Cook' at 2pm at the Merseyside Maritime Museum.

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Royal Academy of Arts ‘Oceania’ Exhibit

Marking 250 years since Cook’s voyage to the South Pacific, the Royal Academy of Arts will celebrate the dazzling and diverse art of the region of Oceania, from the historic to the contemporary. Through more than 250 compelling works ranging from shell, greenstone and ceramic ornaments, to huge canoes and dazzling house facades, ...

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British Library’s Cook: The Voyages Exhibit

The British Library holds one the most extensive and compelling collections of original documents and works of art from James Cook’s voyages. This landmark exhibition, which is timed to coincide with the 250th anniversary of the first Cook voyage to leave England, will be a ‘once in a generation’ opportunity to see the collection on display.

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Blast’s Endeavour Project

2018 will mark the 250th anniversary of Captain James Cook’s epic voyage in command of HM bark Endeavour. It will also be the year in which Royal Museums Greenwich complete their programme of new galleries and major improvements, which Blast creative design consultancy produced a promotional campaign for.

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Royal Academy of Arts ‘Oceania’ Exhibit

Marking 250 years since Cook’s voyage to the South Pacific, the Royal Academy of Arts will celebrate the dazzling and diverse art of the region of Oceania, from the historic to the contemporary. Through more than 250 compelling works ranging from shell, greenstone and ceramic ornaments, to huge canoes and dazzling house facades, ...

read more

British Library’s Cook: The Voyages Exhibit

The British Library holds one the most extensive and compelling collections of original documents and works of art from James Cook’s voyages. This landmark exhibition, which is timed to coincide with the 250th anniversary of the first Cook voyage to leave England, will be a ‘once in a generation’ opportunity to see the collection on display.

read more

Blast’s Endeavour Project

2018 will mark the 250th anniversary of Captain James Cook’s epic voyage in command of HM bark Endeavour. It will also be the year in which Royal Museums Greenwich complete their programme of new galleries and major improvements, which Blast creative design consultancy produced a promotional campaign for.

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Captain Cook’s Endeavour Returning to Whitby

The replica of one of the most famous ships in the history of maritime exploration is being prepared for a new voyage along the North York Moors coast to Whitby. In August a partnership led by Whitby businessman Andrew Fiddler purchased HM Bark Endeavour, one of only two full-scale replicas in the world ...

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Royal Museums Launch ‘Endeavour Galleries’

In 2018 the National Maritime Museum will open its new ‘Endeavour Galleries’, allowing the Museum to take a lead role in Cook 250 – the commemoration of Lieutenant James Cook’s 1768 departure down the River Thames in HM Bark 'Endeavour' on the first of his three voyages of exploration to the Pacific.

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7th International Geopark Conference

On September 27-30, 2016, IAT / Cabox Aspiring Geopark Chairperson Paul Wylezol attended the 7th International Conference on UNESCO Global Geoparks at Torquay, England, where he learned more about the UNESCO Global Geopark programme and gave a presentation on the 250th Anniversary of James Cook's completing his surveys of Eastern Canada.

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James Cook and the North Atlantic Drift

A fascinating talk at James Cook Birthplace Museum on Saturday celebrated Marton born explorer, James Cook’s early naval career in Eastern Canada but also offered a maple leaf to bring both sides of the Atlantic together in celebration of the great man’s achievements.

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IAT Presents at England’s Cook Museums

On September 16 & 17, 2016, IAT / Cabox Aspiring Geopark Chairperson Paul Wylezol was in Yorkshire, England visiting the Captain Cook Memorial Museum in Whitby and Captain Cook Birthplace Museum in Marton where he gave a presentation on the 250th Anniversary of James Cook completing his surveys of Eastern Canada.

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Royal Museums to Open New Endeavour Galleries

On August 12, 2016 Royal Museums Greenwich received a grant of £4,677,100 from the Heritage Lottery Fund towards a £12.6M project to develop four new permanent galleries, including Pacific Encounters which will allow the Museum to take a lead role in Cook 250 – the commemoration of Lieutenant James Cook’s 1768 departure down the Thames in HM Bark Endeavour on the first of his three voyages of exploration to the Pacific.

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