Is the season

[Keith at Tregenna]

As much as it pains me Gentlemen, will have to love & leave you and prepare Sunday dinner for family. Toodle Pip.

Missed my invitation: XX K.

[happy daze john in oz]

#17 we will have none of that a say we will have none of that......white stallions and black stallions and lances a nd choppers

Yes some of our abscence of light brothers amy get a bit annoyed at that.

[happy daze john in oz]

!!!!
I did not come up the Clyde in a banana boat........[/QUOTE]

And I should think not, most docked in the south so unless it was off course.........................

[happy daze john in oz]

Don't
, there's time for things to turn around

Not another one who sailed with UCL????

[Ivan Cloherty]

Not another one who sailed with UCL????

From what I've read on here I'm glad I only saw them from afar John

[j.sabourn]

#40.... Very sad, as probably Cappy knows used to be some got into the Mission in Mill Dam like that. There were some Mariners homes in North Shields, still there I believe, I always assumed these were for retired seamen , looked quite nice from the outside never saw them inside though. There must have been many seafarers like that the only home they knew was a ship. A recent post from Ivan about fishermen was true to life. Some of these blokes especially from the Lowestoft area used to work on the ex trawlers, only got about 3 days leave after a month away, either had to go on the dole or go back to sea on another one. It was a life style that they were used to fortuanetly for the shipowner. I cant see them agreeing with the new laws re alcohol however as most were under the weather when re-joining which I don't blame them one little bit. They had the next month teetotal to think about their 3 days ashore, a dying if not dead breed of men. Cheers John Sabourn

[cappy]

yes john the mariners block of flats still overlooks the river from the north side we have mariners cottages in shields but I think there are no mariners in them now ....more likely asylum seekers ......but I do remember them as a boy they were at the top of broughton rd and the old ones sat outside with there pipes and ciggies.......but never saw them drinking outside it wasn't done in them days

[Ivan Cloherty]

How true John about the trawler lads being under the weather, used to sail for the quay with less than half a crew and the lads would turn up in the locks in a fleet of taxi's just as the last line was being let go, throw their kit bags (no room for suitcases on a trawler) down into the messroom and crash out by the time we'd reached Spurn they were up on deck going about their duties. They never missed a trip with a 'lucky' skipper and the skipper knew they wouldn't, and in case they did there was always the pier head boys with kit bags ready to jump aboard. Problems sometimes arose when the lads who had missed their trawler paid the Pilot Boat to get them aboard as the trawler passed the New Holland Ferry pier and the pier head jumpers had taken their place. It was a different life

[j.sabourn]

#48.. Ivan the ones I served with weren't carrying out their usual occupation of fishing. Were probably on a fraction of the money they were on when fishing, but could not keep away from a ship regardless. When I visited that fishermans club in North Shields in June, some of them were barely at retirement age and as most used to go well past, it was a real shame to see so many idle hands who should of still been at sea. As I originated from a Cullercoats family who were all fishermen with their cobbles in the last century, I do have feelings that they also received a bum deal like the MN did. I still believe to this day that the whole situation was badly handed by a bunch of cockhanded politicians. Cheers John Sabourn

[cappy]

#48 ivan a friend of mine in shields his father was a commander rn and when he retired bought a small seine netter .....he put his lump sum from the r n into it and of it went for a short trip out the tyne it appears the insurance for the boat would depend on the average catch or some such thing any way as it came back up the river a herring drifter with its red sail up although under motor pwer was spun across the river by a large gust of wind which must have caught the sternsail and then the helmsmanwhich caused the drifter to veer across the tyne and hit the littleseine netter and sink her .......the sad part was the whole incident was caught on an old style cine camera .......I have seen the incident on the film quite a few times years ago.....such is life