The Victory Collection: accessories by Willow & Warson from historic wood of HMS Victory (and a competition)

The story of Admiral Nelson's decisive victory over the combined French and Spanish fleets near Cape Trafalgar off south east Spain on 21st October 1805 is well-known and is a fascinating story of naval tactical genius and creative thinking. 

The Battle of Trafalgar. Image NMRN

Rather than sailing parallel to the enemy to engage them, as would have been done conventionally, Nelson's novel approach was to steer his fleet in separate columns straight at the French/Spanish line, cutting it in several places and giving the Royal Navy the winning advantage. 

Nelson's fleet attacks in two columns to break the enemy line at right angles. Image NMRN

Sadly Nelson lost his life; cut down by a sniper's musket ball, he died below deck in the cockpit of his flagship, HMS Victory. He survived long enough to hear that he had been victorious.

In recognition of her part in this battle, HMS Victory is still a commissioned Royal Navy ship. She is in dry dock in the naval dockyard in Portsmouth where she has a captain, first lieutenant and crew and is looked after by the National Museum of the Royal Navy.

Unfortunately, the ship is showing her 250 years and needs a massive refit. Some of her original timbers are being replaced and Willow & Warson have been allowed to use some of the salvaged oak to make a collection of accessories for men.

The collection celebrates HMS Victory's launch 250 years ago on 7th May 1765 and you can mark the occasion with oak accessories made from timber that formed part of the structure and history of this wonderful old warship. Each piece is individually hand-carved, limited in number to 250 and individually numbered. The bow tie, tie clip and cuff links are beautifully-made and make fascinating objects to own and use. 

On the left I wear a tie clip, made of oak showing traces of original paint in the grain

I was delighted to be asked to take part in a photo-shoot to help Willow & Warson market the collection. The sea and naval history have been long standing interests and, as the shoot was to be based on the Victory, I was able to see the ship and talk to officers and crew. You too can visit Victory and a visit to Portsmouth Historic Dockyard is a must, with HMS Warrior, the Mary Rose and plenty of other attractions to see.

Click here to view Willow & Warson's Victory Collection.

Competition

To mark and celebrate this significant anniversary, Willow & Warson are offering a pair of The Victory cuff links and also a Victory tie clip as prizes in a competition which will end on the day of HMS Victory’s 250th Anniversary: 7th May 2015. 

To enter, you must:

1. Create a post on either Twitter or Instagram with some aspect of relevance to HMS Victory’s anniversary e.g. a quote, thought or an image.

2. Use the hashtag #HMSVictory250 within the post.

3. Tag both @willowandwarson and @greyfoxblog within either the photo or the post.

The entries will be reviewed by Willow & Warson and me and the two winners announced on 7th May 2015.