Cutty Sark fire 'not as bad as first thought'

[timill]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/6675381.stm

Chris Livett, Chairman of Cutty Sark Enterprises, speaking at the scene, said: "We had removed 50% of the planking, so 50% of the planking wasn't on site and that's safe and secure.

"And from where I stand there is not a huge amount of damage to the planking that was left on.

"There are pockets of charred planking and some have gone, but it doesn't look as bad as first envisaged."

Comments

[erikvolson.livejournal.com]

Oh, thank god. The first aerial shots looked fatal -- not known that she was basically in ordinary -- masts unstepped, quarterdeck pulled off, and a shed built over her -- and the shed was most of the fire.

The 50 Megapound question -- did the heat distort the iron frame enough to make restoring her implausibly expensive -- or impossible. (If you replace everything, is she the Cutty Sark or a replica?)

The thing that annoys me is that there are countless things in that area that if someone set fire to, everyone would applaud.