Happy 2026! Most Treasured Memories of 2025

 Happy New Year! 

2025 has had its ups and downs for me, but I have made so many memories big and small. There is some separate content for some of them (with the link I will list below) and the others I haven't written about, I'll provide a small paragraph as it is about lots of little things. 

Rather than chronological order which is relatively easy, I am going to provide my Top 10 moments of 2025: 

10 - Joining HMS Belfast Association 

Being an ex-activity facilitating volunteer hoping to return; I joined HMS Belfast Association as a volunteer. It is mainly for the ship’s veterans and their families, but anyone with a connection to the ship can join as an associate member. 

I hope to learn more about the dear queen of the town-class light cruisers, as well as her animal mascots, particularly Frankenstein, which I have big plans for a special project! Watch this space for more! 😉

9 - Nautical sing-along

Not quite like Falmouth Sea Shanty Festival - still pretty short and sweet! I was invited to perform a between-act living history and costumed interpretation musical act as a 1940s-50s sailor, with more modern sea shanties and wartime classics with naval themes. Read more here. 

8 - Visit to the D-Day Museum and LCT7074 

The D-Day Museum (now re-branded as The D-Day Story) was on my bucket list of places to visit! Home to the Landing Craft Tank 7074 and the Overlord Embroidery; the WW2 version of the Bayeux Tapestry. 

I was in Portsmouth for a board meeting with the National Museum of Royal Navy and thought I would take myself on an adventure. When I arrived at the landing craft tank, it was very quiet. A volunteer very kindly showed me around LCT7074, which was very reminiscent of HMS Belfast, (not just the fact these vessels both served during the D-Day landings), with all the flooring, riveted iron and how some crew slept in hammocks right next to where the engine would have been. 

I was mesmerised by the Overlord Embroidery; I thought was just a large embroidered picture but there are actually 32 panels! Each panel depicts different events, groups and people involved in the largest operation of WW2. I bought myself the embroidery kit from the gift shop to not only practice different techniques that would have been used on the Overlord piece, but to have my own Overlord Embroidery. 

7 - Visit to Portsmouth Historic Dockyard

Very early last year, myself and a fellow NMRN board member visited for branding purposes. It was one of my most favourite experiences as this was a teenage dream after going on a school trip to Chatham Historic Dockyard (which is closer to me). 

I still have a lot more in Portsmouth to explore, I cannot wait to get to know it better! (It was quite a culture shock too)! Read more here.

6 - VE Day 80 Living History Performance

I was desperate to begin my educational yet entertaining living history and costumed interpretation workshops (yet another teenage dream). 

I was stuck for what to do to celebrate 80 years since the end of WW2; being inspired by re-enacators, living historians and costumed interpreters, I thought why not do a workshop with my autism group in a Civil Defence ARP uniform (specifically, a CD Ambulance battledress with a Brodie helmet marked with an A for ambulance). 

In fact, I did two workshops; for the adult group I just performed some cockney pub songs for a good old sing-along, then for the young people's group, I did 2 acts - the first act in my White Cliffs of Dover  dress from Lindy Bop performing a couple of songs by Vera Lynn and The Andrews Sisters, then the second act being in drag as a sailor where I did perform some nautical songs, but not the same ones as I did at the music festival that I put at number 9. Read more here.

5 - Pirates Exhibition at the National Maritime Museum, Greenwich 

From historical realities of piracy, to childhood stories, such as Peter Pan and Treasure Island, to piratical dramas of Hollywood; the Pirates exhibition at the National Maritime Museum was educational, nostalgic, and dare I say... swashbuckling! 🦜

Covered themes included pirate vs privateer, different flags (including the iconic Jolly Roger 🏴‍☠️), Blackbeard, female pirates, TV and film and literature. 

My favourite part was an AV of the day in the life of a pirate - with many facts relating to what was portrayed in Horrible Histories!! 

4 - Discovering Family History 

After my nan passed away this year, she had saved a lot of family history I never knew about until now! 

My paternal great-grandparents carried out special duties during the Second World War; my great-grandfather served in the Royal Army Service Corps, but was unfortunately killed in action by a V-1 'Doodlebug' on 3rd July 1944.

My great-grandmother volunteered for the Civil Defence ambulance service as a driver; originally working as a caterer at the local hospital, this must have been how she took on that role. 

3 - Florence Trip

The 5th city in Italy I got to experience! Highlights include Michaelangelo's David (the real one), the Uffizi Gallery and the Boboli Gardens. Read more here.

2 - RAF Rivenhall Operation Varsity 80 Memorial Unveiling 

This is an up-and-coming blog post about a research project I am involved in. I am deciding whether to made two separate posts; one on what I have learnt so far, and the other on the memorial unveiling event. 

The RAF moved into Rivenhall Airfield in early 1944, not long after the United States Army Air Force moved in as part of the American-British alliance. It was home to a Glider Pilot Regiment base during Operation Varsity - the crossing of the River Rhine on 24th March 1945. 

Being invited to the memorial unveiling was an honour, especially being a war memorial records volunteer for the Imperial War Museum, as well as being the first volunteer to record it. As stated, I may do a separate blog post on the memorial itself as part of my Volunteering Stories series. Please watch this space for more! 😄

1 - Setting Up This Blog

It may not be a big memory, but it is 100% one of the the best things I have ever done! Early days, still, I have not been expecting many followers here or on the blog's social media platforms. I have dreamed of setting up this blog for as long as I can remember. Thank you to everyone who has supported me on this journey so far; there's still a lot of work that needs doing, but that's ok, because I am new to the process of running a blog. 

Here's to 2026! 🍻

In 2026, I want to do more living history educational workshops and costumed interpretation performances for my autism group and other local additional needs groups inclusive of all ages, improve this blog to increase my network, contribute to my research projects more often, find opportunities to do a historical costume photoshoot and now that I plan to volunteer in theatre more often, I could perhaps find ways of delivering my workshops with props and costumes. If my capacity allows (and if it's not too much pressure), I maybe could audition for productions with historical context - but I must consider if I genuinely want to perform in a play rather than for the sake of props and costumes!!  

Aside from those, my special project with HMS Belfast I will keep quiet in the meantime; I still need to do some research and right now, it may be a surprise as it is something that will need a lot of work! 

What do you want to achieve in 2026?