Newcastle Sea training School.

[j.sabourn]

Tony , the Avonmoor one of Cappys favourite ships, he will be choking on his wheeltes if he reads this, was built in 1943 at Doxfords .. Sunderland. Her call sign if remember was GRDF. Normally I would have been there for the full 4 years , however to brighten things up a bit , I like to think it was out of the goodness of the owners hearts, I was transferred to another vessel the Glenmoor a much newer vessel, she was also a doxford but 4 cylinder . The ships were being built to go on diesel but. Later converted To go on heavy, but had to go back on diesel for manouvering. Would today be another comtroversy for the climate change brigade. I got the impression from most engineers that scavenge fires on doxfords came as part and parcel of their history, this was maybe just dry humour on their part, and being young and pliable used to take it as gospel. Engineers had to have at least 20 minutes warning before changing over fuels. Makes one wonder today how we got away safety wise in traffic, but in those days people used to know the rule of the road by heart I suppose. Bill my cousin who you knew as a marine lecturer in Engineering at the Marine School saved my bacon on the engineering knowledge for masters , as my knowledge was very vague and 12 hours before sitting the paper went running to him in a panic, all he could do was give me his lecture notes and say take your pick. There was about 2 years reading there impossible in 12 hours , so I studied for 12 hours boiler mountings. It was a shot in a hundred as the questions were all on such , and the salonometer cock will remain in my memory for ever. So it was an engineer that passed me through that paper.my knowledge is still very limited. Cheers JWS

If Frank is reading this then the time he was doing his course on the quaysideon boilers at the end of 1963, I was up the road at the old post office buildings where the BOT hung out then. Displaying my worldly knowledge of the sticky out bits on boilers. Cheers again JWS

[Tony Taylor]

I was part of the team that built the prototype Doxford J (I think) type that was donated to S.Shields Marine and Tech. It was a single cylinder and started no problem. It was very quiet and you could stand a coin on it without it falling over. The residents over the road who had objected to the planning because they expected noise and vibration, never knew when it was running.

Just an addition to the above, one of the supervising lecturers was a certain Mr. Sabourn, uncle of our forum colleague, J. Sabourn.

[j.sabourn]

He wasnt my uncle Tony he was my full cousin . Our fathers were brothers. Bill was 6 years older than me but we spent our early years really brought up as closer to brothers during the war years living in the London area. With grandparents . Bill was the brainy one he was an engineer. JS

[Tony Taylor]

He wasnt my uncle Tony he was my full cousin . Our fathers were brothers. Bill was 6 years older than me but we spent our early years really brought up as closer to brothers during the war years living in the London area. With grandparents . Bill was the brainy one he was an engineer. JS

Apologies, memory issues again (it was 69), he was my heat engines and thermodynamics lecturer, very much respected by all students.

[j.sabourn]

Am not quite sure when Bill actually left the Uk , in 1969 I was away on 12 months contracts on foreign flag vessels , but can’t have been too long after this year. He finished up at the College in Launceston Tasmania. Both himself and Doris his wife took out citizenship. Rather think he also doubled up as and examiner of engineers for AMSA. ( Australia Maritime Safety Authority) in a lot of the outports he had a good handicap at golf also. He used to have a blog on the Colleges prospectus it may still be there . Sadly they went back to uk on retirement to stay closer to family and both passed away too soon. He is survived by a son who is a medical doctor also married to another Doctor or surgeon maybe. Plus grandkids.still living in Whitley bay . Did all his seatime with RFA. Cheers JS

[Lesley Mason]

Just come back to this - and need some time to read it all. I'll get back when I've digested and seen how it ties into Dad's story. But so pleased to see others remember it!

[Lesley Mason]

This sounds very much like my Dad's description of the Firemen's Training School (Newcastle) - run by the shipping federation - though he was there a good deal earlier.

[John Arton]

Tony
Re #14,
When I went up to shields college for 2nd mates a couple of us rented a flat in Sunderland that was owned by a guy who worked as a rigger in doxfords and said he could get me a job there if I fancied it, I didn't. His surname was youern or something like that , apparently his father was a well known hard man on the river.
With the college moving from it's present westoe site including the marine school I wonder how they are going to fit the engineering workshops including that single cylinder doxford plus all the other engineering pieces, diesel generator, lathes etc. into the new site.
Rgds
J.A

[j.sabourn]

When I lived in West Monkseaton in 1963 a bloke 2 doors down from me worked in the Boiler room at the westhoe college. Can’t remember his name but he was an ex ships engineer. He reckoned he had a Bobby’s job. JS…

[Tony Taylor]

Tony
Re #14,
When I went up to shields college for 2nd mates a couple of us rented a flat in Sunderland that was owned by a guy who worked as a rigger in doxfords and said he could get me a job there if I fancied it, I didn't. His surname was youern or something like that , apparently his father was a well known hard man on the river.
With the college moving from it's present westoe site including the marine school I wonder how they are going to fit the engineering workshops including that single cylinder doxford plus all the other engineering pieces, diesel generator, lathes etc. into the new site.
Rgds
J.A

Good point John, I did hear that the Doxford was shipped off to Beamish Museum but havnt been up to verifyiy it (I live literally five minutes away from there), I suspect a lot of the kit will be ditched, they even had a large scotch boiler in the maintenance workshop and a function Babcock water tube tube boiler among a host of other kit, not to mention the machine shops, pipe fitting and welding shops, electricla etc.
My last year 68-69 was the year we built that engine and ran it, we fabricated all the pipework etc. that was needed for the install. The whole project was run by a handfull of lecturers including John Sabourns cousin.
Talking of flats, I shared a flat in Tyne Dock with two BI lads and one from Ellermans, great area with everything to hand and very friendly local shop keepers who always gave me good measure (I was elected cook and shopper), the flat was on Boldon Lane above the wine stores couldnt have designed it better.