Meet the Team Onboard Victory Live: The Big Repair

HMS Victory is opening up its conservation work to the public with Meet the Team Onboard Victory Live: The Big Repair, running from Monday 26 to Friday 30 October at Portsmouth Historic Dockyard. It's a series of informal hourly drop-in sessions where you can meet the people working on the ship's conservation project face to face.

Each day has two slots: 11:00 to 12:00 and 14:00 to 15:00. The morning session is your chance to meet a shipwright, and the afternoon one puts you in the company of an archaeologist, a conservator or a rigger. Because they're drop-in, you can just pop in when it suits you rather than committing to a whole day.

The sessions are designed to let you find out what each role actually involves and how the team is tackling the project. They describe it as a once-in-a-lifetime job, and the work is focused on fighting the impact of moisture, fungus and pests that are threatening the ship. It's a rare look at the practical side of keeping a ship like Victory together, and the people doing the work are the ones there to talk you through it.

It runs Monday to Friday, 26 to 30 October, with the 11:00 to 12:00 and 14:00 to 15:00 slots available every day. The sessions are free with a valid museum ticket, so if you're already heading into the dockyard, it's an easy add-on to your visit. You'll find it at Portsmouth Historic Dockyard, College Road, HM Naval Base, Portsmouth, PO1 3LJ.