The Lamp Lighter

[John F Collier]

#16 i After the war dad bought an American army Bell tent and we all had our holidays in that in the late 40s and early 50s, they all used to stagger their holidays and use the tent by taking it in turns. Mum and Dad and my two sisters and brothers in law, I had a mate that was allowed to come with us and the two of us used to stay for most of the six week school summer holiday, all of the cooking done on a paraffin stove, lovely grub, and the smell of the hurricane lamp in the tent stays forever, we had some great times and I had a Brownie box camera so I've got the family photo's of us all there from 65years ago. Today you see them in Magaluf and Ibiza laying in the road out of their skins, brain dead, each to their own I suppose. cheers JC

[John F Collier]

#19 My mum and dad retired in the early 60s, they moved out of London and followed the rest of the family to Essex. We had all bought our own homes but they had to get a council flat and were put on the waiting list, meanwhile they rented an old private cottage that had a "Thunder Box" in the garden with a cesspit to empty the chemical toilet in, it was a very large hole covered by grass and had a square wood cover. When their old telly finally packed up and "dad being dad" put it in the cesspit, "out of sight out of mind" . Then on a warm and peaceful summers evening there was an almighty bang, the gasses in the cesspit had caused the cathode ray tube to explode, this in turn blew the cover off the cesspit and sprayed some of the "fertiliser" around the garden, I'm glad to say I wasn't there to see it. cheers JC

[John F Collier]

#20 I've never seen a coal burning range except for the one on HMS Victory, I know you're not young in years cappy, but please don't tell me that was the ship you were on . On my first ship one of my duties was to go down in the lift to the cold room and bring up the days stores and to help the butcher bring up the meat from the freezer, while I was down there I would pump up the oil for the galley stove from a large tank with a handle on the top. cheers JC

[cappy]

jc for some reason i was sent from shields to liverpool to join a hains tramp in58 ....she had a coal burning galley ...i was told to go down the coal bunker at five thirty each morn ...no overtime and fill the large gally bunker ....it was a large leather bucket so no sparks on a handy billy it too a long time to fill the galley bunker i was by then quite black so off for a shower as the others turned to .....after a week or more i was told it was a deck boys job .....no one listened at all so ....one morning i just didnt turn to .......it was chaos the galley fire was out no 7 bells the chief steward bawling at me the idle twat of a cook bawling ......i stood my ground and was sent to see theold man ........it was then decided it was a deck boys job ....he bleeding hated me .....but sadly no overtime for cappy all the watches were cocked up........i felt a surge of galley boy power ......such is life.....it was cappy,s ist taste of power ....but i was a bit of a celebrity for standing my ground .....many hands off watch helped me to peel my tatties and a said i had done it right ....must say i was crapping apples when sent to see the old man ....but he was a fair old bloke and backed me up.....happy days .....cappy

[Keith Tindell]

Cappy 1958 old Haines tramper I was deck boy, not the one you turned over, but similar situation. The one I was on was the Treworlas, but I was Peggy, having to get the food from the midship galley, and take along the deck aft, great in good weather, blowing a hooly, some of it did not reach aft, so good bollicking followed , lot of growing up for a sixteen year old. Kt

[John F Collier]

#24 Thanks for that cappy, I'm always learning new things on the site I've got to admit I never experienced anything like that I was only on the well known lines NZSCo, Shaw Saville & Houlder, I was only at sea for a bit over four years. I only got sent to the old man once and that was for nearly missing the ship, there was three of us and we had all been for a pint and got our timing wrong. when we got to our berth the gangway was up and they lowered it for us. I think it was the 3rd mate who clocked us and the next morning all three of us were called to the bridge, we were lucky, the captain gave us a suitably stern rollicking and a verbal warning and we got away with it. I think you do earn peoples respect if you have the courage to stand your ground and especially against bullies, who most of us have faced some time or another. I liked the "first taste of power"
bit, now we all want to know what followed. cheers JC

[cappy]

what happened jc wasthe second cookskinned out ......i was promoted assitant cook which meant my 11 quid a month went up to 20 someting........but ifound later i was not getting that ....the cook and chief steward were sharing the shorthand money as it was known ........i later in the trip skinned out in wallaroo for a beut of a ozzie shiela .......dont ask any more as it is a long story ...wrote a poem about that cook and that trip it is somewhere on this site but i no not where regards cappy

[Keith Tindell]

Ah, Walleroo 1962' also happy memories, loading grain, and the six o'clock swill.Now was it Walleroo or Ardrossan round the corner who had the nurses training school ?, happy days, no wonder you skinned out, kt

[cappy]

well kieth those hains boats were proper tramps .....i think the scouser gallley boys must have turned her down .......why else send someone from shields .....dont remember the nurses home maybe it was ardrossan.......i think you were in the same typhoon as me in 61 ......we were off osaka in one ofthe supposed ist all accom aft ships the riseley a tramper belonging to the tommason shipping co of newcastlethe winds were over 200mph ....a lot of shipping lost at that timeit was the strongest recorded .....it was brown trouser time ....we had a crack across the fordeck just forward of the accom when it was over .......what ship were you on at that time as i recall in the past you mentioning you were there ...i recall it being 61 as i had my 21st in the seven seas bar in newcaslte NSW......my kids years later loved that story of course embellished in true sailor fashion a few years later

[Keith Tindell]

As i recall cappy , i was on the Durham Trader, and some days before that hit us we had painted the fwd wheelhouse and decks, as soon as we emerged from the storm, all the paint was removed from the wheelhouse, almost like it had been shot blasted. Poor old cook was unable to prepare much in the galley, but he always came up with something hot, good old days eh,, kt

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also remember the guys coming on board to load the grain in Walleroo, bringing their Eskies full of beer each day, kt