County's fight to secure Royal Navy ship's anchor
PA MediaThe mission to secure the anchor of a Royal Navy vessel in the county it was named after continues.
Northumberland County Council has acquired several artefacts from HMS Northumberland, which was decommissioned in 2025, but a request to obtain its mooring was turned down, according to its leader.
The collection includes a miniature of the ship, its bell and its honour board, which lists key engagements undertaken by all eight Royal Navy ships bearing the name for more than 300 years.
Northumberland County Council leader Glen Sanderson said he was "very grateful" for the bell but he "wanted the anchor as well" to placed outside County Hall. The Ministry of Defence has been contacted for comment.
Sanderson said the bell and artefacts, which are displayed in the reception of the council offices in Morpeth, were "a very important memento of any ship, particularly one of His Majesty's warships" so visitors would see them.
He said Northumberland was "very much a home" to the ship and people would have been able to see "the size of the anchor" if the council's request had not been rejected. However, he said he had not given up hope.
Northumberland County CouncilThe collection includes a miniature of HMS Northumberland, which was built by the Wallsend-based shipbuilder Swan Hunter, and the ship's bell dated 1994 marking her commissioning into active service.
The Conservative-led council's veterans champion and former RAF group captain Gordon Castle said: "I'm very pleased we have managed this and been able to keep the memorabilia.
"Her [the ship's] time has now passed, but these important features are now with the county council to remind us of the service we have had from the Royal Navy."
The frigate was previously granted the Freedom of Northumberland in an unusual move by the council, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.
Built on the Tyne, it was launched in 1992 and saw service in deployments across the world, catching cocaine smugglers in the Caribbean and trailing Russian vessels in the Atlantic.
