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OLD NEWS 2006 |
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Please note that the hard copy newsletter differs from this one in which, for reasons of security unless otherwise requested, personal contact details are not shown on the web edition. NEWSLETTER NO: 8 - FEBRUARY 2006 Once again Christmas and New Year are behind us and we start to look forward to the coming year and all it holds for us. The recent cold spell appears to have jogged the memories of some of our members and reminded them of those wonderful days spent crossing the Atlantic in the winter. Our thanks for the completely spontaneous contributions of reminiscences about those long days wondering if we really were going to make it home for Christmas – or New Year – or just sometime in January. The days are now drawing out noticeably and soon it will be spring again. Warmth in the old bones, weeds in the garden, and grass waiting to be cut – problems we never had at sea. One of the great pleasures of the spring is of course the Reunion in May at St Anne’s-on-Sea, and then at the end of the summer we can look forward to the autumn get-together at Didsbury. The members who have access to the Internet will no doubt have already seen the photos of Didsbury 2005, and for everybody else there is a selection of “Who was There” in this Newsletter. And for those who can’t make it to either of these reunions please know you are missed and your thoughtful messages and e-mails are always appreciated. So on those occasions if you cannot be with us please raise your glasses and join us in a toast – to all who worked and sailed with Liners. The MLOSA web site continues to grow under the stewardship of Derrick Howarth. You will see in a report from Derrick that to date we have had 525,000 hits (translation - people logging on to view the site). This is quite an achievement in such a short time. Look at his list of countries where
these hits are coming from. One has come from the Heard
& McDonald Islands. (Where??) The encyclopaedia informs
us as follows: Derrick suggests we should a start an on-line competition for logging on from the most remote place. And if you haven’t seen the site
yet, it is certainly worth having a look at. As Neil Howard
writes in his e-mail to the newsletter – ST ANNES ANNUAL REUNION WEEKEND – MAY 6th & 7th 2006 The annual reunion is being held at
the LINDUM HOTEL in ST ANNES over the weekend of the 6th
and 7th May. The arrangements are - arrive during
the afternoon on Saturday - tea/coffee and scones will
be served around 3.30/4 pm. A chance to meet everyone
else over an informal cuppa. A raffle is drawn after dinner – tickets will be sold during the course of the afternoon and the evening. Some prizes are purchased from funds, many are donated by members, and all the proceeds go back into the MLOSA accounts to help keep the annual subs down. The evening usually ends in the bar where the bar staff are very good to us and stay on duty until they are no longer needed. On Sunday morning after breakfast some
people choose to take a walk along the prom to blow away
a few cobwebs, others will head for the church of their
choice, and some just stay in the hotel to catch up on
the Sunday papers. Every year there is a suggestion that
“next year” we will have midget golf competition
on the course across the road from the hotel, but so far
it has never happened. The weekend package includes the excellent
Sunday carvery lunch, after which we all disperse. If anyone wishes to make a long weekend by arriving on the Friday night - or staying on for the Sunday night - extra nights can be booked direct with the hotel either on a bed and breakfast tariff at £25 per person or on a fully inclusive rate to include the Friday dinner or the Sunday dinner. Included with this Newsletter are the details of the weekend along with a booking form. PLEASE RETURN THE BOOKING FORM AS SOON AS POSSIBLE to the Hon Sec – and certainly NO LATER THAN THE 7th APRIL.
Please make a note in your diary that the DIDSBURY MEETING this year will be on THURSDAY 26th October 2006 –1200 hrs for 1300 hrs Details and a booking form will be circulated with the Newsletter due to be distributed around mid- September.
Didsbury Lunch - Thursday 27th October 2005 - Didsbury Golf Club
We had an excellent day and a really good attendance with 69 members and guests sitting down to a very good carvery lunch. The members and guests in attendance were as follows:-
Bob Bowen and Don Corker had to cry off at the last minute otherwise we would have been 71. Messages of apology and good wishes received were read out. The lunch was followed by a raffle which
raised £106 towards Club funds. A big thank you
was extended to Peter and Kath Cullen for organising the
raffle and also for once again organising an excellent
reunion and meal. M.L.O.S.A. WEB SITE REPORT At 1110 hours on Friday April
29th 2005 I launched manchesterliners.co.uk with the message:
The success of the site is because so many of you have made it your home page when logging onto the Internet. Typing Manchester Liners into Google search we come up on the first page in ninth position. This in such a short period of time for a new site is fantastic and I thank you all. Since going live it has brought us 12 new members from around the world and also allows members in other countries to be an integral part of the Association.
Where is it going from here? I have asked our Hon Sec to put a request in this newsletter for ship photographs. For those of you who use the site, if you go to the fleet list, look for any ship that does not have a camera. Peter Cullen came to see me with a bag of photographic items, and with those alone I am creating extra pages for the PHOTO ARCHIVE, one of which is dedicated to SHORE SIDE, so photos please. The extra pages are to speed up opening for those of you who are not on broadband. Similarly, I am adding a second page to MAIL BAG. Peter has also sent me a very interesting set of documents that chronicle Manchester Liners through the wars, thought to have originated from his uncle Capt. Barclay, and will hopefully be a base for a complete new section within the site. Once again thank you, and please keep sending in your letters, photos and documents. Photo’s in JPEG format and documents in MS Word are preferred went sent in by email.
ML SHIP PHOTOGRAPHS REQUIRED MLOSA is building up an archive of photographs of the Company's ships on its web site www.manchesterliners.co.uk and still requires many photos. Please will you look through your albums etc and help us? A list is available of the photos on the web-site and photos still required – please phone or e-mail if you would like one. Hopefully there will be sufficient space to print the list in the next Newsletter. Please also enclose details of the source
& copyright of each photograph. webmaster@manchesterliners.co.uk with the subject: Photos If this is not possible, then photographs can be sent in by post to me at my address on the members list. When sending photos through the post, please make sure they are properly packaged to avoid damage and that they are NOT FOLDED as this will show in the scan. Photographs in slide format can also be scanned and used. Please make sure that you enclose a SAE if you require the return of photographs & slides.
Derrick Howarth CONGRATULATIONS ARE DUE TO
Original Message From: David
S Lever In the last Newsletter we managed to insert an extract of an ad from the infamous e-Bay auction web site spotted by Dave Lever, but we did not have space to print the photo So for those who do not have access to the internet, here is what was on offer for £6.50.
It is a photographic postcard by C Downs, postally used 1909, entitled Manchester Liners -Lifeboat - Manchester Exchange. About 8 crow members on board.
£0.75 will buy a colour
slide of Manchester Concorde taken at Birkenhead.
£1.50 (plus £2.75)
and you can have your very own Manchester Liners writing
compendium (without paper).
Time to clear out the attic - You could be worth a fortune! FROM THE ARCHIVES
One of the young lads featured
in the photograph went on to be Master with Manchester
Liners - no prizes guessing which one! NEWSLETTER NO: 9 - SEPTEMBER 2006
Last year’s trips of nostalgia have called more old salts to return to the Great Lakes. This year Colin Spence and Neville Baker made the journey. Colin has penned his thoughts on the changes they found. Members may or may not be aware that this year is the MLOSA 25th anniversary so the reunion at the Didsbury and next year’s reunion at the Lindum have a very special significance. Captain Jim Illingworth has kindly written a short resume of the 25 years of the Association for this Newsletter. Once again we are hoping for a record turnout at the Didsbury Reunion. The booking forms were sent out last month – if you haven’t already completed and returned your form please do so as soon as possible, or phone Peter Cullen on 01612-4458387. The room will hold around 80 and so far Peter has 58 confirmed bookings. If perchance you cannot make it rest assured you are not forgotten. We always raise a glass to absent friends. The date of Didsbury – Thursday
26th October (sorry for the misprint in the letter last
month which accompanied the booking form) – meet
at 1200 hrs for lunch at 1300 hrs. If you require directions to get to Didsbury Golf Club please contact Peter Cullen on 0161-4458387
ST ANNE’S REUNION 2007 –
the 25th Anniversary of the Lindum Reunions – DIDSBURY LUNCHEON 2007 (next year) – will be held Thursday 25th October THE WEBSITE – Derrick has designed a new web page called “LOOK OUT” for people who are trying to obtain information on former ML employees. Some of these are printed towards the end of the Newsletter for the information of those members without access to the internet. Yes, there still many of us who don’t “do” computers!
This coming November, twenty five years ago, at the instigation of Captain Eric Askew and Robin Townsend, there was a small gathering of seagoing staff at The Last Drop Inn and it was decided. to form The Manchester Liners Old Shipmates Association. The first reunion was held at The Lindum Hotel 8th.May 1982 so next year the meeting at the Lindum will be the 25th. Anniversary of that first weekend reunion. We also met for an evening get together in November at various venues but eventually this was changed to a luncheon at Didsbury Golf Club. The Association started with about 40 members and has now grown to 111 (04/05/06) and as far as 1 am aware is still growing. I was talking to Mr Paul Rollings, owner of the Lindum Hotel, at our last meeting and he remarked. on how unusual it was for an Association like ours to have increased in numbers. “Usually,” he remarked, “the numbers decrease.” The increase in numbers is mainly due to two people, Captain Peter Cullen who gained publicity for us in the Manchester Evening News, and Derrick Howarth who set up the MLOSA website. By the way Derrick I'm still using the telegraph to communicate, too late to catch up now. In any case there's no room in the flat for a computer. Joking aside isn't it nice to know that twenty five years since Manchester Liners was swallowed up by Furness Withy and, in turn by O.O.C.L., and the name is still going strong and is on the internet Maybe this reflects on Manchester Liners itself, the friendly and close-knit Company it was, stemming from the leadership of our last Chairman and his father. Since the beginning we have only had two Secretaries Captain Eric Askew and Captain Steve Worthington, and only two Treasurers Len Hughes and Captain Peter Cullen. We have been very fortunate, they have done a grand job in keeping and expanding the Association. Many thanks to them. I would also like to say thanks to Carol Worthington and Kath Cullen for all their efforts behind the scenes. So come on all you Old Shipmates –
let’s makes next year’s meeting at The Lindum
the biggest wingding of all to celebrate our Silver Anniversary. ST ANNES WEEKEND MAY 6/7TH 2006 Once again a most enjoyable weekend was spent at the Lindum Hotel renewing old acquaintances and reliving happy memories. It was indeed a pleasure to see two of our new members, namely Bill and Mari Lowe and Max and Judith Kipling, both couples having travelled a considerable distance to be with us. The day we all arrived a very nice afternoon tea was served comprising of tea or coffee with delicious cream scones. Prior to the evening meal we all assembled in the bar for pre dinner drinks, which also gave Kath the opportunity to circulate selling raffle tickets which went very well. The diners were in the region of 50 which is the maximum number that the room allocated to us can accommodate. An excellent meal was enjoyed by all after which the raffle was held. A big thank you must be extended to all present for their very generous donations to the raffle which realised a profit of £83 for club funds. Following the raffle we were then entertained by two of our members firstly by Mike Kendall who gave a most interesting talk, after which our resident comedian Derek Clulow kept us well entertained with jokes from his Bumper Fun Book. Thank you once again Mike and Derek. The following morning after breakfast a brisk walk along the seafront was the order of the day to work off some of the extra calories we had taken on board. Sunday lunch was served to those who stayed the full course, after which we all set sail for our home ports. A big thank you must be extended to Steve and Carol for their hard work in organizing such a successful weekend at the Lindum. The staff at the Lindum must also be congratulated on their efficient and cordial service which I am sure was appreciated by all present. Peter Cullen Who was there (by table grouping)
If anyone would like a copy of all the photos of St Annes, on a CD, I will be happy to oblige, but would appreciate an A5 size s.a.e to keep the MLOSA costs down. THE SOCIETY FOR NAUTICAL RESEARCH By Michael Kendall 2005 was a memorable year in British maritime history. The 200th anniversary of the battle of Trafalgar, which ensured British naval supremacy, and thus the huge expansion of the Empire and our merchant fleets was celebrated, albeit in a rather limited fashion, during the year. The Icon of these celebrations and a well-deserved centrepiece was of course the flagship of Lord Nelson: - H.M.S. Victory. It is hard to believe but nevertheless a fact, that in the early part of the last century (circa 1910) the Admiralty in their wisdom had contemplated the breaking of this magnificent “Wooden Wall” as being surplus to requirements. The Royal Navy at this time was so vast and the Admiralty so filled with their own self importance that they considered any decision that was made by their Lordships was akin to Moses and his commandments written in tablets of stone! As can be imagined there was huge dissention to any form of change to the status of H.M.S. Victory and a number of prominent retired naval personnel (including a plethora of Admirals) and well to do businessmen, particularly ship owners, including Alfred Holt, P & 0, Cunard, White Star, Ellermans and I understand Manchester Liners decided the Admiralty was very wrong to contemplate such a disastrous course. Thus a society was founded in London to foster the study of ships and seafaring throughout the ages and in particular to raise funds for the saving of Victory. In fairness to the Royal Navy post-Trafalgar and up to the First World War, its world wide domination in seafaring terms enabled Britain to build and sustain a vast merchant navy wherein over half of all merchant ships on the high seas (and there were thousands) flew the red ensign. With the commencement of the First World War, matters concerning H.M.S Victory and other naval artifacts were to a major degree put on hold as the nation and the navy had more pressing affairs to consider. After the First World War the Society For Nautical Research, as it was now named, launched a "Save the Victory" fund, which went from strength to strength thereby saving Victory from an ignominious fate and providing money for a permanent berth for the ship in Portsmouth Dockyard. The Society administers the "Save the Victory" fund and spends some £60,000 per annum on timber and fittings, inter alias. The Victory is still in commission and of course flies the white ensign as a ship of the line. The society played a leading role in the foundation of the maritime museum in Greenwich and the Royal Naval museum at Portsmouth. In recognition of their participation in these prestigious projects, members of the society visit Victory every June and have the run of the entire ship most of the day, including luncheon for 100 members max on the lower gun deck. In 2005, it being a special year in historical terms, luncheon was substituted by dinner, still for only 100 members. Sherry was taken in the Grand Admirals cabin prior to the meal when, in the absence of H.R.H. The Duke Of Edinburgh, the society president, the welcome address was given by Earl Howe, a direct descendent of Admiral Howe who in 1793 defeated the French off Shanty quite comprehensively. This battle became known as the "glorious first of June" The occasion of the dinner was splendid and memorable and the ship was in magnificent condition. She could well have been launched that day such is her fine state. As our ships and seamen become past history never to be replaced, and a tiny fraction remains of our once magnificent Royal and Merchant Navies, it is comforting to know that at least one wonderful example or our erstwhile Naval Might still remains. Michael Kendall This was the outline of the
interesting talk which Michael gave at the St Annes
Reunion. If anyone would like to know more about the
Society Michael will be very pleased to hear from you. These photographs were sent in by
David Fox and David was an engineer onboard the MANCHESTER SHIPPER when these photographs were taken. They show both the serious and the not so serious sides of life at sea. That’s him in the center of the life buoy with the big grin. With him is Arthur Cunningham, and a.n.other (someone who did his apprenticeship at Morrel Mills and then joined the Shipper – David can’t recall his name – can anyone name him??)
A NOSTALGIC TRIP - RETURN TO THE GREAT LAKES By Colin Spence June this year saw Neville Baker and myself leave on a trip to relive some of our memories of long ago and see if things had changed very much in thirty some years. Alas, they had. Arriving in Toronto and spending a comfortable night, we took the early train for a very enjoyable journey to Quebec via Montreal, arriving around 4 pm. From there we made our way to the dock to embark the Nantucket Clipper for an eight day trip to Buffalo The first place to look at was Quebec where there are now very few commercial berths available, the main two being for cruise traffic and grain. There was also quite a large marina used by a couple of tugs and numerous pleasure craft. A visit in to the lower city showed a complete contrast to how it was on my last visit some thirty odd years ago; the shops now all bright and colourful, though quite small, but catering almost exclusively to the tourist trade. The ascenseur – although modified – is still operational and on the upper level things were virtually unchanged with the Chateau Frontenac still in its beautiful position overlooking the river. Montreal had, for me, changed quite dramatically as looking at our first container berth to see that the area had been expanded so much. Proceeding further up river I was saddened to notice how those once bustling sheds and berths are now all disused and in quite a bad state of repair. From the clock tower inward there was a lot of activity from leisure craft with most of the docks now taken up by marinas and berths for tourist boats.
Leaving the quayside you are no longer faced with multiple train tracks forming an obstacle course to get ashore, but a beautifully landscaped and pedestrianised area and the ends of some sheds now given over to shops and restaurants. Moving toward the city, St Laurent Blvd is now taken over by a large Chinatown stretching out on both sides and a stroll along St Catherine’s showed a distinct lack of shops of any substance until you get to Hudson Bay Store. I understand that everyone that could move is now housed in the extremely large shopping mall under St Catherine’s Street. Moving into the entrance of the St Lawrence Seaway took me back to 1959 when I was 3rd Mate aboard the “Faith” on her maiden voyage and became the first British flag ship to enter the Seaway on the day it opened to commercial traffic. How things have changed along this waterway, mainly I think, that because there is so little traffic now, lock gates are open and a green light showing, dispensing with the frequent waits on approach walls for your turn to go through, which used to be the norm. Toronto has grown considerably, if not in area then certainly in height. The Royal York Hotel which was at one time a landmark on approaching is now hard to find amongst the buildings which is now downtown Toronto.
Once again the dock area which we used is now built up with hotels and apartments, restaurants and shops, and leisure craft marinas are in prominence on the remaining waterfront. The Eastern Gap is now the main entrance to the harbour and any commercial traffic is now concentrated at the eastern end of the harbour too. The run through the Welland Canal was uneventful and nothing seems to have changed much there except the absence of other shipping. The only vessels we met were two large lakers, one a cement carrier and the other loaded with grain. So finally into Buffalo, disembarked and back to Toronto for our flight home. I suppose that we enjoyed the restful trip through the Seaway etc, but the big disappointment was the lack of other traffic which, in years gone by, was at times a great frustration but always of constant interest.
EXCERPT FROM EDMUND ECCLES’ MEMOIRS ALL ADRIFT IN THE NORTH ATLANTIC Homeward bound on one trip in 1948 we were in very heavy weather. It was decided that we would heave to after dinner one evening. This was done and when I entered the saloon for my meal I looked forward to a more comfortable motion of the ship. We did get our bows into the wind and sea, with a fairly gentle pitching movement. All of a sudden there was a violent roll, accompanied by a loud crashing noise. A frightened young girl appeared at the saloon door, quickly followed by her parents. I got them seated at a table. It seemed that the wardrobe in the girl’s cabin had been torn from the bulkhead and was now on the deck. I received a message to report to the Bridge, where Captain Struss told me that as soon as were hove to she no longer answered the helm. Engineers had been sent to the steering flat but I was told to go and have a look and report back to him rightaway with the nature of the problem. In the steering flat I found that the locking nuts on the rods connecting the steering engine to the rudder quadrant had “walked back”, with one end of each rod now on the deck. I returned along the after deck, and when near the forward end of No 4 hatch, the ship gave a mighty roll to starboard and I had to make a great effort to reach the ladder rails up to the saloon deck, as I had visions of being thrown overboard into the sea. I returned to the Bridge along the Engineers’ alleyway and the Captain’s staircase into the chartroom. I reported the situation to Captain Struss, and obtained his permission to display the “Not Under Command” lights, in accordance with International Regulations. Word was passed that only Engineers required were to be in the steering flat, and that access to and from there had to be via the shaft tunnel. I do not know how long it actually took but the Engineers worked very hard in difficult conditions, as the deck there was very slippery. At last, we received word that the rods were re-connected and the steering could be tested, but turning the steering wheel, only slowly. Everybody on the Bridge was visibly relieved when she answered the helm, and at the earliest opportune moment we hove to and were pitching easily at a moderate speed, until we could resume our normal homeward bound course and speed. Sailing up the Canal, Captain Struss told Pilot Bennett about the event, and said “I thought we had lost her, Percy”. I am glad I was not the only one with such thoughts.
DOCUMENTARY – NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC – O.O.C.L. "OOCL ATLANTA" – Captain Roger Llewellyn Several weeks ago there was an excellent documentary about Megastructures. This particular one was about the OOCL ATLANTA – O.O.C.L. being the company which finally took over Manchester Liners. Briefly, the vessel is 134,000T fully loaded, carries 200,000 containers a year worth $4.5B, and travels a distance equivalent to two thirds of the distance to the moon each year. She carries a crew of only 22, is 323m overall length and does the round trip Asia to the USA every 42 days. The documentary was very informative and certainly emphasises the changes in life at sea in the last 20 years. If anyone would like to see it I have a copy which can be borrowed for the cost of the postage. Steve Worthington From: Chris Davies Just finished watching it. Fascinating. How things have changed since I left the sea in 1968!! “Twenty years from now you will
be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than
by the ones you did. Mark Twain Regards, MLOSA WEB SITE UPDATE – SEPTEMBER 2006 The MLOSA web site remains as popular as ever and regular users will see that the ship photographs on the Photo Archive pages has had many additions, with many thanks to all members who have helped to fill in the gaps. The archive is by no means complete though and we are still searching for photographs of the following list of ships.
If anyone can help with thew loan of photographs of any of the above listed ships please send them to me by email at webmaster@manchesterliners.co.uk. Please use JPEG format, preferably at 300 dpi. Files sent by WinZip compression are also acceptable. It is also important that you enclose the details of both the copyright and source of each photograph. Alternatively you may post either
a CD-ROM or the photographs to me. SECURITY ON WEBSITE Please may I draw your attention to the IMPORTANT NOTES, reference our email security, on the SIGN ON or CONTACT page of the site. We are being inundated with so much rubbish spam, as many as three dozen per day, many of them with attachments that have potential for virus spreading. In order to differentiate we are now requesting that you add to the subject line of incoming emails to any manchesterliners.co.uk email address the following: a) Ship name and year Which ever one is most relevant. This will avoid them being deleted by our security. This applies to the Mail Bag address as well.
P.S. What do you think about the new “searching for” section called LOOK OUT? CONGRATULATIONS ARE DUE TO
DIDSBURY REUNION 2006 – just in case you missed it
on Page 1 …….. Extract from a letter from Denis Holden, from Queensland, Australia I officially retired nine years ago but still enjoy my pastime as consultant with Rio Tinto on bulk terminal and port development matters around the globe and currently have three interesting challenges that keep me out of mischief. It also provides me with the opportunity to stay aboard HQS 'Wellington' in London and enjoy a malt or three whilst reminiscing over the ‘good old days' on the China coast with other old salts. I haven't found too many who braved the north Atlantic or where clients of Joe Beefs! Incidently, re the recent article in the MLOSA newsletter about the hunt for lost ML sea-containers. One of my visits last year was to Fort Dauphin in SE Madagascar, a very small and dilapidated anchorage port where the odd coastal ship discharges into an even more dilapidated barge, a few containers. By all accounts, once there they seldom leave. There, amongst many others, and in all it's faded glory was a very old ML Container. It was being used as a family home come shop and fine display of what looked like baked pig hanging from where it's doors used to be. Madagascar is a very poor country so in a small way it was nice to see a little of the past assets of CYT being used as a rather exclusive residence by local standards. Apart from that, stalking and fly fishing for brown trout have become a serious passion that takes me regularly to Tasmania, South Is NZ, British Columbia, and of course Cumbria, the Yorkshire Dales and Scotland. I am still trying to schedule one of these to coincide with an assembly at the Didsbury Golf Club and/or the Lindum Hotel but alas May and October tend to be rather cold months and the trout seldom rise for a dry fly in those conditions. Anyhow the interest and intention is truly and kicking. Best wishes to everyone Denis Holden
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