Titanic bell

Your journey around the exhibition begins with the ship's bell.

Preserved for 92 years, this is the bronze bell that Frederick Fleet rang three times before he shouted, "Iceberg right ahead".

As you enter the first part of the exhibition and catch sight of the massive section of the ship's hull, any thoughts of Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio are replaced by the awe of what lies ahead.

Yes there's romance, the beauty of the first class accommodation and trinkets, but there is also the stark reality that these things were abandoned by people in fear of their lives.

Top hat

The exhibition offers a mixture of ship parts - ranging from plumbing and metal bench supports - to personal belongings and items of clothing such as a top hat and a single shoe.

Around every corner is another fascinating artefact with another story to tell. A pack of playing cards, a clarinet - perhaps abandoned by the ship's orchestra - miniature jars of perfume, bottles of wine, pans from the galley, money and crockery.

All the items have been recovered from the debris field of the wreck site 453 miles Southeast of the Newfoundland coastline and lying 2.5 miles beneath the ocean surface.

Reconstruction of Third Class cabin

Back in the exhibition a wall of ice confronts you. The air turns cold and thoughts drift back to that April night.

And then, in the final part of the exhibition, you're chilled once more by a wall naming all 2,228 passengers sorted in to class and crew and listing whether or not they survived.

This isn't your run-of-the-mill exhibition of prehistoric pots and coins. This is a glimpse into the lives of the rich and not so rich, the lucky and the not so lucky who we've heard about through books and personal accounts.

These people could have been our grandparents or great-grandparents and this exhibition provides us with a startling link to those who thought the Titanic would be the jewel in the crown of ocean travel.

Richard Fair

Sport

Music

Arts

Features