Free previewStop 3 of Plymouth Walking Tour: Plymouth Rock and the Pilgrims
The Ship That Needed a Home First
You're on the waterfront in Plymouth, at the state pier off Water Street, and the tall wooden ship tied up in front of you is Mayflower II. Look at her hull: a deep brown, trimmed with dark-red strapwork, the colors of an English merchant ship of the 1600s, worked out from Dutch and English paintings. Then find her stern. Carved there is a small blossom, a hawthorn, which the English call a mayflower.
This ship exists because of a British veteran named Warwick Charlton, who had fought alongside American allies in North Africa. In August 1954 he had an idea: build a copy of the Mayflower in England and sail her to America, as a thank-you for that wartime friendship.
His group, Project Mayflower, knew how grand gestures like this end. Earlier replica ships had made their big voyages and then rotted away once interest in them faded.
That's the opening. The rest plays at stop 3 of Plymouth Walking Tour: Plymouth Rock and the Pilgrims (3 min in all). Unlock the tour to hear it all, or try stop 1 free first.
