Ripping apart a neighbourhood just to build yet another neighbourhood, isn’t always a good idea.Plenty of ‘new town’ residents can attest; the idea is basically sound insofar as people graduate into better quality housing, although sad to say, not necessarily better communities.Nonetheless, Belfast in the late sixties was dealt the wrecking ball in an area called ‘Sailortown.’ Just as the name suggests, it was…
‘The coins just kept spinning out onto to the deck’ commented one of the seamen. It was a pub conversation and at first I thought he was boasting about his luck on the fruit machine until I realised that he’d just paid off a vessel chartered by Dover Harbour Board (DHB) to dredge the Goodwin Sands off the Kent coast.I am fairly sure that the year was…
‘Half the scum of England are going into the Merchant Navy to escape National Service’ (1) pronounced Judge Ewen Montagu, a hard-line Law Lord, way back in 1955.An ex-military officer, Montagu’s reactionary opinions seemed to reflect the nation’s mood of the day insofar as conscription was considered to be a duty. Anyway and to the point, arraigned in his court was a merchant seaman…
They both served the nation well, in peace and in war.Problematical is that both ports are tainted with the legacy of slavery.In Bristol’s case this was all too apparent in June 2020 when a Black Lives Matter (BLM) protest removed the statue of Sir Edward Colston, a 17th century merchant and slave trader. The statue was seen as an anachronism in a city increasingly…
When the German heavy cruiser Admiral Graf Spee came to her end in December 1939, one of the main factors that led to her demise could be blamed on part of her shipboard equipment. The British knew all about their enemy’s woeful blundering, and with their own superior design ensured that it wasn’t going to happen to them. Indeed, that weakness in…
I’m pleased to say that we’ve been in contact with retired seafarer, author and painter, John Richardson and that we’ll be doing an interview with John in the next couple of weeks. Before leaving his last ship, the SAS Kimberley, and after retiring from theservice in 1990, John has painted many of the South African Navywarships and numerous sailing vessels…
An excerpt from ‘Victims of Atlantis’ by John Richardson Monday 11 November 1940 was Armistice Day; a day of remembrance when the warring sides of WW1 ceased hostilities and came to peace. On board Atlantis a service was being held at 0800 in honour of those men and women who’d lost their lives in the conflict. However, while the service was in…
Careless – not a word I’d use to describe the professionalism of the Liberty ship crew Richard L Montgomery as she sailed from Philadelphia to the Thames estuary en route to Cherbourg, France. Ultimately the ship was lost, but not before sailing with 6 thousand tonnes of ammunition and keeping close convoy formation amidst an ever-present U-boat threat. She sailed into Loch Ewe, Scotland, thereafter joining a tanker convoy to…
A small gathering took place at the Merchant Navy Memorial, in Liverpool’s Pier Head for an Act of Remembrance. Due to current COVID-19 restrictions only a small party was able to attend. The service was led by the Rector of Liverpool Parish Church, Rev Crispin Pailing, also in attendance was Rev Fergus Butler-Gallie, Capt Feltham (MN), 2 standard bearers and…
Footage from the ceremony on Sunday at St Nics in Liverpool.
If you’re another old salt you realise there’s nothing unusual about glimpsing the navigation officer taking a noon-day sight.Except that these days checking coordinates is just like pushing a keyboard on your car sat nav. So noon-day sights aren’t such common practice anymore. No waiting for the angle of the sun at midday; the truth is that using a sextant is rarely leisurely and the need…
Outside of the Liverpool/Manchester conurbation few people have heard of Peel Holdings.It owns the Manchester Ship Canal; it built the Trafford Centre and MediaCityUK – now host to multiple television companies – and in Liverpool, is one of the country’s largest port operators. It also has financial interests in diverse activities such as airports (including Liverpool John Lennon), land, transport, retail, hospitality,…