New Member

[J.T.Fitzpatrick]

Hello All, I'm a new member to this great site... I was with the General Steam Navigation co... the Clyde Shipping co... and the Port Line, in the Late 50's

[Tony Wilding]

hi i was on the Shelldrake and Corncrake in the 60,s

[J.T.Fitzpatrick]

Hello Tony,
I was on the Goldfinch and the Hirondelle in 1958 as Catering boy age 17yr. .. I should have put late 50's. (old age and time slip... will update info.)
Thank you for the Welcome message, John.

[Roger Dyer]

Hello J.T.,

Welcome aboard, mate, to a great ship with a good crew. If it makes you feel more at home, please know that I, too, spent time with Port Line and G.S.N.C. in the late 50's and 60's, namely,'Port Hobart', 'Port Sydney', 'Port Dunedin', and 'Port Huon' (1957-1959) and 'Ringdove','Alouette','Woodwren','Woodlark','Mavis ' and'Laverock' (1959-1962). During the summer months of 1962-1965 inclusive, I was also a happy sailor (A.B.) on G.S.N.C.'s 'Royal Sovereign'. Hope your time with us is both long and happy.

..................Roger.

[Tony Wilding]

HI ROGER forgot to mention i was on the Queen of the Channel for a season, my only time in the Catering Dept, there were more fiddles on that Ship than were in the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, we had an AB on there who boasted he would get a legover befor we arrived at Southend Pier from Tower Pier, he usually did.was a mad house, could write a book on the fiddles, most of the Cargo Ships had Cook/Stewards,my brother was one, use to tell me how the fiddles were worked on those, amazing days.

[Ron B Manderson]

welcome TJ
enjoy the site as we all do
Ron the batcave

[Keith Moody]

welcome to the site, I was with Clydes on the " Goodwin " feb 61 to may 61. some rough seas that irish sea.!!
I used to load my m/cycle on in London and take it around to belfast where we stayed from Mon-Fri. each morning take it up to the offices and pick up the mail, check with the capt. if he would be aboard that day and if not take off touring Northern Ireland , all the crew were from around Belfast so they were gone home at night and most days. I beleive that the Capt. name was Macintosh.
enjoyed this bit of home trade.
In belfast at that time, the Canberre was being fitted out, and one night i took my trusty bike and headed out to the FLoral Hall for a dance, I sat down in a seat and in front of me was a group of englishmen (from their accents). one particular one person i reconised, so just leaned over his shoulder and told him to shut the f... up, without turning his head he just said "Moody" . it turns out we had spent several years previously on the Arcadia in a cabin with 6 other guys.
we got talking and the next day off i went over to Canberra for lunch with him, he showed me over the ship and i fell in love with it . I went back to the Goodwin and said to the capt. i needed to pay-off, he said i had to wait until my articals were finished so i used that old saying, " i have trouble at home and need to get there fast " he said "i couldn`t" so i said "i would get the Union down" he didn`t want to be mixed up with a union so he let me pay-off. I packed my bags collected my M/cycle and headed for the Belfast-Holyhead ferry, bought a ticket and boarded for the trip. and that as they say is another story. however arrived at Hollyhead and rode my bike down to London, straight over to P & O offices to see if i could join Canberra, no problem, then drove down to Dover and told the wife that i had a few days off then would be joining Canberra for the maiden voyage, she was delighted until she found out it was for 3 months away. fantastic trip on Canberra. 364 hours of overtime at 4shillings an hour and all the fair maidens you could ever want.
keith moody
R635978

[Tony Morcom]

Welcome to the site John Thanks for stopping by to introduce yourself. It is to be hoped that you enjoy the content here which is as varied as the members.

[J.T.Fitzpatrick]

Hello Roger,
Thanks for the welcome. I was on the Royal Sovereign, Goldfinch & Hirondelle 57/58 and with Clyde shipping..Needles (iron ore carrier) and Port Nelson, Port Montreal & port Wellington 58/60

John. (R694652)

[J.T.Fitzpatrick]

Thank you Ron,
Looking forward to many hours searching this site.

John.