Women crew members and wives at sea.

[j.sabourn]

You were on the site I believe and have mentioned before it was not always a bed of roses as the post put on here by a seafarer afew years ago titled My worse Christmas at sea , involved a couple of shootings one of them fatal . The Electrician was shot dead and his wife who turned out not be be his legal wife was within feet of him when it happened. I don’t know if the poster of the story knew the lady was not his wife or not , as it only came out at a later date , when his survivors were left with his last will and testament. Although I wasn’t there at that time , I had on my previous trip had to go through a similar experience when the master was stabbed. However the master who was there at the time of the lady being present was a friend of mine , so I knew the full story , don’t think the media got anywhere near it thank goodness. People do have personal lives. Every person who went to sea has stories to tell , at sea you weren’t brought up to live life in a cocoon , some stories are bad and some are good , but whatever they were , it was living with both. Cheers JS.

[Glennys Faulds]

Hi Lewis,

You made me laugh out loud thinking of all the raised eyebrows your wife's pregnancy must have caused. I also got pregnant at sea, although as I was never seasick and didn't get morning sickness I didn't have a clue. It was one of the ABs who asked me if I was pregnant so I did some rapid counting and realised that yes, I was. It was probably just as well he was so sharp-eyed as we were due to sail to Archangel and I was supposed to sign off as supernumary and sign back on as stewardness, the Russians at that time not taking kindly to stray passengers on cargo ships.

A few of the other guys were also signing off so we all trooped down to Dunkirk to catch the ferry to Dover. Of course, back then nobody raised an eyebrow at drinking while pregnant so my husband and I were having a drunken tearful farewell when I suddenly realised the ferry was moving. My husband had no papers or ID with him whatsoever and he sobered up fairly quickly wondering what the hell he was going to do. Luckily the 2nd Mate was from Dover and was very friendly with most of the customs and immigration people. He told us not to worry, he'd fix it. And so he did. My husband got ashore at Dover with no hassles, but that didn't solve the problem of getting back to France. Anyway, he got on the next ferry and off he went. Apparently he just mingled with the other passengers when they docked and walked straight through.

It was probably just as well I didn't make the trip, although I've always had a bit of regret about it. Apparently the guys were almost driven mad by black fly bites, there were armed guards stationed at the bottom of the gangway and the only place they were allowed to go was the equivalent of the Seamen's Mission. In fact, a couple of the ABs were passionately committed Communists and one of them came to my husband afterwards with tears in his eyes and said he didn't realise how dreadful the conditions would be.

`

[Bill Morrison]

Well Victoria from reading your posts you have done your share of globe trotting. In the 1960's while in port in London the guys from Aussie and NZ would make for West Kensington (Kangaroo Valley) the Antipodean ladies gathered there on their world travels. I don't think travelling on your own these days would be a safe option. They must still travel but probably in groups. This lady I take it form down under was in Edinburgh.
https://youtube.com/watch?v=MaDQ4VK_p3w

[happy daze john in oz]

In the late 50's up to the early 70's Earls Court was little Australia, that was where they gathered in great numbers..
Sadly now taken over by bloody ethnics.

[Bill Morrison]

#115 Victoria while you were doing your own thing back then, in Northern Europe it was the Hippie trail. The Hippie trail was the in thing in the sixties I knew a few lads that were motor mechanics so were in demand to keep the bangers running. It was not for me my heart was set on the briny.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hippie_trail

[Graham Shaw]

In the late 50's up to the early 70's Earls Court was little Australia, that was where they gathered in great numbers..
Sadly now taken over by bloody ethnics.

Yes,it was called 'Kangaroo Alley',-also peacefully co-existing with a thriving gay quarter-that too has disappeared,almost completely,now just supermarkets,convenience stores,take-aways and a few of the old pubs which the modern pub chains and eateries have refurbished,but completely lost the old clientele of course.Grown old,passed on,or just vanished,with nothing left but ghosts and memories....
It is surprising though there are still lots of Aussies and Kiwis all over London,if not working for big companies,then in the hotels, bars and 'pubs'.

Abo (2).gifAustralian Ensign (2).gif

[Glennys Faulds]

Hi Victoria

You've certainly done a lot of travelling, and it sounds as though your life has been a real adventure. It's amazing the places Kiwis and Aussies turn up. I think we must be some of the greatest travellers in the world.

Once our kids grew up and moved all over the globe my husband and I used to travel quite a bit to visit them and the grandkids and get a bit of side travel in as well. Of course bloody Covid came along and interfered with all of that. I haven't seen any of the grandkids for a couple of years. which I find hard. The worst is that after my husband died we had planned a big family reunion back in Scotland where we were going to scatter his ashes in the "happy place" of his youth. Covid has interfered with that as well. Our charming youngest son reckons that it's great - he thinks I'll die before we can travel freely again and they'll be able to take my ashes along as well and get a sort of two for the price of one deal.

Glennys

[happy daze john in oz]

Yes Graham, a sure are a lot of Aussies and Kiwis working there.
Last time there in 2019 we were in the Argyle Arms, pub opposite the London Paladiuim and the lady behind the bar was from Sydney.
She collard us for about ten minutes wanting news from Oz.

[Keith at Tregenna]

We had many in Chiswick, some had rooms above a bank across the road.

Did not have any Oz bar staff but, many customers.

K.

[Glennys Faulds]

#122 Hi Victoria, what a great life you've had so far. By the time my kids were old enough to start travelling things had changed a bit. My #2 son lived in Shepherds Bush which seemed to have taken over from Earls Court as downunder central. We met kiwis and Aussies everywhere. One of the most interesting was an 85 year old woman we met in Beijing. She owned a Backpackers Hostel at the start of one of our big tracks which she kept open for 6 months of the year, then she spent the other 6 months travelling wherever her fancy took her. Most of the time she didn't really have much idea about where she'd go - she would pick a starting destination and set off from there with her Lonely Planet clutched in her hand. Goodness, the tales she told left me speechless. She'd had the little backpack, which is all she travelled with, stolen in Kazakhstan so went for 6 weeks with nothing but the clothes she was wearing, which she used to wash at night so they'd be clean next day. I hope I'm as adventurous when I'm 85 but somehow I doubt it. I've started to like living in comfort!!