Des Newton Ship Bottle Demonstrator Merseyside Maritime Museum

For the past two decades, no maritime or shanty festival in the U.K. has been complete without the appearance of Des Newton.

Whilst the old deep sea sailors sang shanties to aid with their work and forebitters during their leisure time, they also indulged in the fascinating and delicate art of putting ships in bottles.

As a modern exponent of this art, there is none to compare with Des. A Lancastrian by birth and a Scouser by adoption, he has been exhibiting his skill for 20 years as resident “Ship in Bottle” demonstrator at the famous Merseyside Maritime Museum at the Albert Dock, Liverpool, as well as representing them at festivals throughout the United Kingdom.

Prior to Des becoming a full time “Ship Bottler,” he was a professional entertainer. The combination of his skills coming together resulted in the ability to demonstrate the age-old craft of placing models into bottles in an entertaining way. Add to this an in depth study of the craft's history related along with some very interesting anecdotes and you have something to entertain all ages.

Over the years, Des has demonstrated for people from all over the world and all walks of life, including many VIPs such as HM The Queen, HRH The Duke of Edinburgh, HRH Prince Charles, HRH Princess Margaret, The Duke of Kent and many others. One of the pinnacles of his career came when he was requested to make a scale model of the Royal Yacht “Britannia” in a bottle and presented it to Her Majesty The Queen aboard the Royal Yacht 'Britannia' during its visit to Liverpool. Further ship models were requested for other members of the Royal Family.

Virtually no bottle is too miniscule for ship insertion and Des holds the world record for inserting two ships into the world's smallest whisky bottle.

How did I come to be putting ships into bottles?

Some Forthcoming Appearances in 2008