Wallace Tricketts BLOGG SPOT Continuing THE APPRENTICE YEARS
Monday, 24 November 2008
Continuing on from blog
29.
Looking back in the books used
throughout our apprenticeships at Vickers shows how intense and involved the
four years were.
Experience in the shipyards
commenced on September 18th 1970, in the A.E.D (Auxiliary Equipment Department)
and first job was completion of thread adaptors for relief valves. Each
job was timed and we had to perform a write up on this in our Training board
manuals which was hen checked by the overseer and instructor, in our case it was
Mr Tom Sargent.
The first few weeks were spent in an
upstairs workshop from the G.M.S. (General Machine Shop) which broke the ice,
and in some ways still cocooned us from the vast size of each shop with isles of
lathes, be it centre lathes, turret lathes , with huge cranes working overhead.
The noise from all this activity with hundreds of machines running, staff
walking around and shouting to each other above the noise ,foremen in their
white and red coats, ladies driving the electric bogie carts, smoke rising from
all the heavy cutting of metals, heavy engines running in the test bay , railway
wagons being shunted in from one of the companies diesel fleet to collect the
daily output of swarf-waste metal cuttings.
It was a visual harmony of industry
which still to this day sits in my mind so clearly . At the centre of the
huge shop was the stores and office . Quite a few of us would visit to the
stores whenever the chance permitted just to ''oggal'' at the attractive office
girls , they seemed to add glamour in a somewhat drab atmosphere yet certainly
not uninteresting. Being 17 many of the lads were talking about
girlfriends and during the first few weeks I began to learn more about human
nature on the sexes from the various jokes that went round the block in the AED
. Some workers were women and they seemed to enjoy a joke at our expense being
green to the industry.
Within afew months I had moved out
to the main workshop and was involved in working on valve chests that were part
of the sub programme. The Journeyman I worked with was called Frank and we had
to assemble large castings onto a wooden bed with flanges and then water seal
before placing them under terrific pressure. In most cases nothing of any
concern ever happened, perhaps a slight leak from a seal but nothing too
dangerous. However on one day we had set the chest up and it had to sit under
pressure for about half an hour. Frank and I had gone to the stores when we
heard this terrific bang !. One of the flanges had cracked under strain and
blown off -fortunately we always set it up so if anything like this did happen
it would not kill anyone, and just as well, most of the other fitters hit the
deck as metal and water sprayed out across the shop floor towards a wall where
no pipes or electrical fittings were.
There was an enquiry with management
and foreman around Frank for an hour or so, I felt sorry for Frank he looked
quite shattered even though we were not blamed for the mishap , metal fatigue
was the culprit but just glad nobody was around it . After that day I began to
stand well clear everytime another chest was tested.
During lunch breaks, 12pm to
1pm, the shopfloor fell silent , most choosing to either go to the main
canteen or travel home for lunch. I had chosen to continue Duke Of
Edinburgh award so was drawing alot for the activity award, and during lunch
breaks would sketch the various bays and machines. It was not allowed to
take photos in the shops without company approval as it was all Government work
and official secrets act. Remembering the cold war was in full swing then and
even anti rad tablets were available to take should we be attacked with nukes ,
not that tablets would really help .
I was stopped by security on at
least three occasions but only because my bag was so bulky with my dirty
overalls inside them. I never liked wearing them outside the workshops, or
sitting on the bus in them like many chose to so always carried them in my
bag .
Block Release at college took place
every few weeks and lessons alternated between Abbey Road Tech and Howard
Street.
Most of the teachers were ex Vickers
men who had gone on to a teaching career. It was a change from the workshops but
in an important part of our training as we all had to achieve a reasonable
percentage pass in order to go up to the next level.
Socialising after hours had not
really started as yet for me, several friends invited me for drinks on
Friday evening and it was tempting though still underage and also going to the
pictures to try and see X rated movies.
One evening my friend Steve and I
went to the Classic in Cavendish Street (formally the Odeon) and got in to see
the film MASH, which carried an X certificate due to the use of four letter
words. That's right -you had to be 18 to see a film with swear words in but we
could go to work and hear it for free all day long.!!!! The manager got
suspicious probably because I did not look 18 and promptly came and sat next to
us during the film. What he thought we would do I don't know but I think he got
so bored with it he left after a while.
By the spring of 1971 we had all
settled into all the requirements of the apprenticeships. HMS Sheffield was
being fitted out along with several smaller vessels for both Chilean and
Argentina Navies. Who would have thought ten year later war would exist between
the latter and UK and the Sheffield would become a casualty of such. I had been
moved into the main Gun shop and worked under a gentleman called Bernard Cain.
Bernard had not long got married and was a very pleasant man to work with. His
wife Vicki drove one of the Electric bogie carts that moved al sorts of pieces
around the huge yard. We worked on both Mark 6 and Mark 8 type guns for Royal
Navy Contracts. The Mark 8 4.5 are still in service to this
day.
Bernard became very sick and soon
became apparent all was not well. A tumour on the brain claimed his life several
months later , a very sad day for all his family and friends. That same
year another well loved fitter from the same department called Gerry collapsed
and died at just 40 years of age with heart failure. Once again an
experience to realise we not guaranteed 70 years of living and need to enjoy and
make the best of every day we are given.
Next week I will continue with the
third and final part of the Apprentice years..
Wallace Tricketts BLOGG SPOT 29-The Apprentice Part One.
Wednesday, 12 November 2008
Many of us owe our working life to
the skills we gained as young people in the various trades we were fortunate to
have been taught as apprenticeships , and the opportunities it opened around the
world. This is the first part of my memories of that time.
As the school term came to a close
in the summer of 1969 word came through I had been accepted for an
apprenticeship fitter/turner at the Engineering Training school at Vickers. My
parents were pleased I had this opportunity after not really knowing what I
wanted in life at that age . There was to be no free lunch though ,between
leaving school and starting at the training school I managed to get my first job
to help with my keep . This was at Sovereign Chemicals who ran their plant in
Ainslie Street producing paints and tile adhesive. The General Manager Mr Roger
Fisher was our neighbour with his parents when we lived in South Row , his own
father Mr Fred Fisher having a building business at that time.
The plant employed around 15 workers
, a floor manager called Eddie and one rep called Charlie and had one Ford D
series lorry used to take export orders to Liverpool Docks each week . My job
was to assist with the manufacture of tile adhesive which meant the continuous
lifting of very heavy bags of Gypsum into the moving machinery. Each
working day I would cycle from our home at Roose to our Grandmothers home
in Hibbert Road , where I would don a boilersuit and walk to the factory
towards the reservoir end of Ainslie Street.
It was back breaking physical
labour in a noisy hot environment with young men who had not had the same
opportunity which lay ahead for myself, and after one week I was pretty
shattered. The real world of work was a wake up call , and by the third week I
wanting to quit as each day my overalls were becoming caked in dry adhesive
making the material crusty and sharp in parts. The first time being payed was a
novelty , though I recall being to tired to care .However I held this job until
a week before the Apprenticeship started , then spent a few days out on my
pushbike in the beautiful Furness countryside. It was an unusual period , Man
had just landed on the Moon and there was a great surge of interest in Space and
Astronomy , science fiction giving way to fact.
The intake at the Training schools
was around 180 for both Engineering and Shipbuilding , with young men and women
taken from schools all around Lancashire , plus Westmoreland and Cumberland ,
soon to become Cumbria in the new boundaries.
Since metalwork had never been a
strongpoint at Alfred Barrow I was somewhat apprehensive as to what lay ahead .
That said the whole idea was to learn a trade and better to go in as a novice
than with expectations.
We were assembled in the courtyard
outside the main doors and then told to go through to the cafeteria. Addressed
by workshop manager Joe Stringer and Apprentice Training Schools Manager Mr Bill
Topham , it soon became clear there was a no nonsense attitude and time wasters
would not see the end of their apprenticeships. A safety programme was run and
we were then given a sheet to write remarks on it and see how much we had taken
in. We were given a number, the first three digits been our identity number and
second our clocking on/off number. Mine was -202/567. We were split into
groups of about 12 , from group A onwards. I ended up in group J and the letters
went up to L. This would be our grouping for the next four years whilst we
attended block release at the Barrow Technical College and Howard Street one
full week in every three as well as other activities planned. Each group had an
instructor and would spend approximately three working weeks on each section
regardless of trade to be learnt, it was in effect away of ensuring we were
suited to what we were being paid to learn and get to know what other skills are
involved. Hence electrical and sheetmetal work were covered besides fitting and
turning.
Part of the weekly curriculum was PT
with Mr Brian Hethrington, and also baths at Abbey Road . PT involved a cross
country hike across the Jubilee Bridge and around the Rainy Park area , no
trains to spot here!!! We were encouraged to get involved with either
sports groups , after hour activities and Duke of Edinburgh Award which Vickers
supported. This was all positive things, indeed there was little excuse for
anyone not finding something worthwhile , aware at that age many were either
finding or curious about girlfriends or visiting pubs underage in the rush to
grow up and leave youth behind.
Group J had twelve members, none of
whom I had known before and I recall making friends with a young Scotsman called
Andy who had come to Barrow from Glasgow with his family . ( Today -almost
40 years on we are still very good friends and Andy has one of my paintings of a
Barrow built ship he later sailed on when in the Merchant
Navy.)
The sea of green machines in the
main workshop was at first quite bewildering , then after a few days as
everything started getting into place , the noise from everything running was
odd at first plus the sounds of lots of hammers and chisels going like the
clappers on the fitting benches. The first project in that department was
to make a set of G clamps out of solid blocks of steel with just a hammer ,
chisel and file , before drilling and tapping for the clamp to be fitted
through. This broke in us all , with blisters and cuts daily plus the odd
bruising from a miss swung hammer!!! Tired arms at the end of the
day made the pay of four pounds and four shillings seem hardly worth it ,......
but it was. After paying my keep I still had enough for the pictures on a Friday
or Saturday , using my bike to get around most places in the autumn months. As
winter fell I had signed up for Duke Of Edinburgh silver award which meant
I was out every evening be it nightschool for the apprenticeship or
for First Aid classes or Art as part of the interest part of the award. My tutor
was a carpenter from the Shipyard, Mr James Noblet who was an established
watercolour painter of small boats and pleasure craft. He was a very
kind man giving me his time each Monday evening at the Training
school like that and looking back it was good discipline to attend all
these things and have the opportunity. St Johns ran the First Aid course on a
Wednesday , this was for service award. We also spent several weekends out
in the Lake District on camps , plus a week at Lakeside YMCA on outdoor pursuits
a bit later for the Gold award. More on that next time.
When I arrived at the Shipyard
Training school for nightclass, the cleaner ladies would still be there and I
got to know all of them by name and some were interested in the
art I was producing. One evening arriving early one of the young ladies asked in
a joking sense whilst still cleaning the room if she could pose for me in
the nude, I never took her up on the offer though at 16 I was pretty hot
under the collar with the idea and still wonder what would have happened
if Mr Noblet had arrived to see me sketching a model as
such!!!
Each week we had a module to
complete on the work we had undertaken on the benches, as well an assessment at
the end of the three weeks period on each trade . It was important to achieve at
least 60% if not higher. Quite to my amazement the highest percentage I scored
was 76% and that was on the Welding course, which considering I could hardly see
a thing through the arc welding mask truly surprised most . On fitting I
attended around 68% and 77% on lathes in the turning course according to my
record book .The worst result was sheetmetal at just 54%
.
Here are some of the instructors in
the school of that year 1969-70.
In June 1970 Vickers
held an open evening for parents to come and visit the school, considered one of
the best in not just UK but Europe . Volunteers were requested and as I
had a free evening I decided to come in and was placedcon a Colchester lathe
.Visitors saw various materials turned then Mr Collins decided we should show
how nylon is turned. Nylon will wear steel out yet cuts like butter , hence at
around 1200 rpm the swarf -waste ,was shooting off it into the tray but I
overlooked when turning the coolant on how it would spray and just about
everyone standing within a 3 metre circumference wore
it!!!!.
Mr Jordon was suffering badly with
arthritis to all hi joints and was becoming very poorly. Sadly he passed away
before the first year of our apprenticeship so I organised a wreath from the
lads for his family, then our First Aid man went off ill so with attaining my
certificate through St Johns ,was placed in as First Aid officer at the school .
On the last week , just like at Alfred Barrow Boys, I drew caricatures of all
the instructors and was gifted to the school , for although I had entered with
little confidence I was realising how important it was to have this training and
skills as well as the many new friends made. We were about to leave the comfort
zone of the school and go into the yards, another world altogether which I will
relate my experiences next time.
Regardless of the currant turmoil in the worlds financial sector , things have not slowed down for my work programme. Tradionally it has always been busy from August onwards to the New Year with orders. However this year by both chose and design the programme is different. I made the call a few months back not to produce calendars for 2009 , not that any premonition told me there won't be a 2009 despite the state of the world at the moment , but one of cutting back the pressure the past few years had placed on the business with packaging and posting hundreds of items.
Earlier this week I posted a thread on the forum page appertaining to some details I would post on this blog about the artwork.
On November 1st we hold an open day for transport friends, colleagues and clients. Most years I have participated in the regions art trail but by chose am not joining it this year and instead have opened the doors independently to those genuinely interested in the line of work I produce.
Most of the spec work produced in the past 12 months will be on show for sale and its anticipated some will go going by the interest I have had. LRU members and guests may have just the next week or so to advise if they would like to buy any of the originals still available from the selection. Should you wish to contact me direct then please do so on wallace.t@paradise.net.nz
One of our invited guests is well known historian writer, and publisher Graham Stewart who has published many books on transport in New Zealand and assisted towards reference material in some of the paintings I have produced of trams and buses in New Zealand .Grahams father painted almost the same themes as myself and sold his work for modest amounts. Today they are highly sort and highly priced and Graham believes the same will happen in time with the work I have produced to date.
Our local candidate for Parliament will also hopefully be calling to say hello in as he has commissioned a painting of his classic car after the election is over a week later.
Recent commissions include two oil paintings of the preserved steam engine' Sir Keith Park 'from his family . Sir Keith Park was a New Zealander who played a vital role in the Royal Air Force strategy during the Battle of Britain campaign. The locomotive is in Southern England awaiting some tender loving care back to steam. Publisher/writer Geoff Churchman commissioned an oil painting of a vintage multiple unit on New Zealand Railways in 1938, with just a few photos to go on nobody has a coloured photo so the painting will be quite striking and is to appear in Geoff's next book due out before Christmas.
Shaw Savill Line have their New Zealand reunion this month and attached is a recent oil painting commissioned by two passengers on the Southern Cross who travelled on that vessel from Southampton to Wellington in 1966. The painting shows the vessel having just passed through the Bridge of Americas in Panama.
Port Line have their New Zealand reunion in late November and am currently producing a series of work for them also. Meantime last week saw me in Wellington at a meeting with the Transport 2000 + group and presenting a painting of what Wellington could look like in the future with lightrail, this being the first of a series to be commissioned. I also am putting together a series of pre lim drawings for another mural in the station confines which has yet to be fully decided.
The futuristic oil painting will feature on the next issue of Topics magazine so am unable to publish it yet as to hold back the element of surprise .
Meantime more LRU scenes continue to be started and worked on between other projects. Commissioned work has to come first as it pays my wages but I do enjoy the LRU scenes as a relaxing break without the obvious pressure or deadlines. This week also marks thresholds with cartoons seeing thec300th one for our local paper published, all up over 3000 have appeared in books magazines and newspapers since 1984. My first published cartoon appeared in Vickers News showing our Duke of Edinburgh group lost in the Lakes , published in 1972.
So with a busy time ahead , I wish each and everyone of you a happy and safe week
Many will recall the system of
A,.B., and C denoting how sharp your pencils were when you sat the 11 plus for
secondary schooling. I started off in 1A in Mr Hodgeson's class but by the time
I was half way through 2A I had been put down to 2B coming close the
bottom of the class in the A form. Some personal issues on the homefront had
some bearing on this but that aside I was never fully focused on class projects
thinking more about watching the 6.18 pm pass through on the Barrow shunt than
which was Henry VIII 's third wife, or what Pythagoras was or
did.
Needless to say the demotion saw
different teachers enter my world . Mr Lancaster took us in the second form and
he was a great teacher, and loved the outdoors and took a sympathetic approach
to my struggles at the time. Besides finding Art to be my best subject I loved
music but failed to comprehend the notes or the way music was written , yet
would listen to my fathers records at home including Peter Dawson 'The
Legion of the Lost', Nelson Eddie Jeanette MacDonald, and alot of Orchestra's .
In the third year (1966-67) we had Mr Bannister as form teacher and being a keen
sports teacher I found that rather a trial and still had a total dislike for any
sports , often hoping it would rain so we would not have to go to Croft Park, as
by now I had been passed fit to play rugby and cricket and soccer but not having
been involved in the first few years made me even less keen now. Dad would take
me to Barrow Football ground to watch a match to try and entice me into the
enthusiasm of it , but the main enthusiasm I found was not the match but seeing
all the double decker buses lines up in Holker Street after the game. That was
the weekend highlight as far as I was concerned.
In 4B our form teacher was Mr
Spencer, a rye witty man but sharp with his teaching and things began to pick up
for me . For Maths we had Mr Watkins and frail timid man who found himself out
of his depths with 4B -aka the story last time about the tables. We were a rough
class 35 plus and a challenge for any young teacher. Mr Watkins got so upset
with our behaviours one day he stormed out , of course the troublemakers soon
got to work firing pellets across the room with many of us ducking for cover,
however one hit a light and it shattered into thousands of tiny pieces. The
noise alerted Mr Lyons (sorry in blog 26 I spelt his name incorrect) on
the floor below. He charged in and gave us all good telling off but as he came
in the room quietened down so you could only hear the sound of broken glass been
walked on , and he never even looked down . After the telling off he walks out
again, crunch crunch crunch, but nobody spoke, after he left the room the class
erupted into howls of laughter. Mr Watkins returned after a couple of smokes and
stiff black coffee in the staff room.
In the fourth form our English
teacher was Mr Melon, a broad fit looking Australian with piercing blue eyes and
blond hair who looked more like a German Panzer Division leader .Each week we al
had to read a passage from a book chosen by him , in one of Charles Dickens
novels one of the lads was having trouble pronouncing the words correctly , we
had already had a few amusing words or phrases not as Dickens intended and Mr
Melon was getting a little bemused about it .Finally when it came to one lad who
I will call George , he read out the line " the gentleman asked the young
lady if she would care to sit on his penny farthing " but he read it as"the
gentleman asked the young lady if she would care to sit on his penny
fart-hing!!!, to which Mr Melon erupted in a loud roar of laughter
followed by the class. George did not understand what he had just said believing
it the correct wording. We also had plays each Christmas and for our 1967
production we did the Tinder Box in which I played a woman. Mr Melon was bemused
by my hairy legs and wondered if I should shave them but instead I wore apair of
dark ladies stockings, this was my first theatrical role and one that does not
appear on my cv !!!!
At the end of the summer term 1968
several teachers came out onto Duke Street to see their cars had been physically
moved , whether left open or broken into I do not know but as it was the last
day for several of our class, those not choosing to continue for another year
-mainly the troublemakers , it meant the culprits could be hard to find. The
cars were left strewn over the pavement and against the wall of the school. At
the time it looked hilarious but on reflection it was probably not nice thing to
do as property was probably interfered with plus a rather disrespectful way to
say goodbye to those who had given their time and energy.
It was however form 5b that saw
things really come ahead , the class had dropped to about 24 from around
38. We had to buckle down for CSE exams and work hard to get projects done of
our choice. Mr Lyons was now our form teacher and during certain periods he
would let us all have some freetime to browse at magazines he brought in. The
one I loved to read was Punch magazine and the many cartoons and styles of
drawing. Trog, Larry, Bill Tidy amongst many very talented people and humorous
writers like Alan Coren and William Davis who was the editor . I wrote to
him asking for information about drawing cartoons and still have his letter to
this day wishing me all the best. Something stirred inside, I began to realise
what humour with drawings can generate in both general topics and serious ones.
In History Mr Blackburn asked each
of us to write a project on something important to Britain. I choose the GPO and
ended up visiting the Abbey Road postal offices and sorting rooms , travelling
to the GPO tower in London almost bran new at the time and reading many books
for information. In Geography a project on the history of Barrow Docks saw
visits to the port with permission to see Athersmiths trucks unloading wood pulp
for the Barrow Paper Mills. My father spent hours at the Barrow Library
researching in books on the towns history and will never forget the help he gave
me . In Science we did a project on Roose Power Station with science teacher Mr
Clemens. A visit to the station is another event I shall never
forget.
Each morning at assembly in the new
hall one of the fifth form boys had to read a passage from the Bible ,standing
beside the teacher. When it came to my turn I knew I did not carry alot of
volume in my voice and looking out on a sea of faces would be difficult, however
for whatever reasons made me do it, come the morning in question I stood up on
the stage and read it projecting the sermon out to all. The look on Mr Westall
's face( R.I.) said it all. He had told me one day I will have my say , whether
a passing comment or knew something I did not, time has revealed him
correct.
At the end of the summer term and
indeed the end of my school days t the ALF'S in 1969, I came out top of the
class in English, Art , History , and Geography . The Barrow Docks project was
top project and the best the teacher had ever seen and the History of the GPO
was consided the best project in the North West of England that year by the
Education Board, so much that it was sent to London by request of the GPO
as a training manual for their future management .
A hard years work had paid off, and
my father and mother who had at times despaired of my lack of
enthusiasm for grasping basic ideas were at last proud and happy
parents.
Before finishing at the ALF'S I
had one last parting gift. I drew the teachers in various stages of
adversity and presented them with each drawing the day I left. I recall seeing
tears in Mr Lyons eyes, something which moved the rest of the
class.
Well today I don't know how many of
our old masters are still with us of my classmates, but I hope if you are
reading this it brings back some happy memories, as for me I thank you all
for giving us your time and enriching our lives as we all do in the beautiful
chapters of all our lives.
Wallace Tricketts BLOGG SPOT --26 ' School Days at the 'ALF'S .
Friday, 26 September 2008
Blog Spot 26 . Sept 25th 2008
We all have our memories of the good old
times at school, our friends , the teachers , the games etc we got up to , here
are some still active in my memory.
Itsapproaching the
summer school break of 1964 and soon my class at Roose school is to say
goodbye as we go into our allocated schools governed by the success rate of each
of us in the eleven plus exam. I recall that last Friday afternoon , well it was
the last for me , not quite for the rest of the class, as on arriving home I was
to prepare for hospital and a prolonged stopover taking in my 11th birthday just
prior to the end of term , so I never said a proper goodbye to any
one.
But
that's another chapter , I started at the ALFS (Alfred Barrow Boys ) in early
September, the first big change after Roose was the compulsory wearing of a
uniform , including a cap . The ALF'S badge on the blazer breast pocket and cap
was quite smart , with the letters A.B.S. inscribed in gold over red. Next was
the fact we had to catch a bus each day and back, and leave allot earlier than
that for Primary school . On arrival at the school it looked rather like a
prison , with the large netting around the perimeter , its large ominous three
storey building (Roose primary was one level) and no greenery after a very
generous playing field at primary. My goodness what a reality check this
was???
All the new lads were assembled in
the main hall and introduced to the masters, here are the teachers as I recall
that year.
Headmaster Joseph Caruthers, Deputy
Mr .Ben Lions,
Mr. Arthur Spencer,
Mr.Fred Hodgson, Mr.Peter Ainsworth , Mr.Charlie Scanlon,
Mr.William Westall, Mr.Jack Lancaster, Mr. Michael Fenton,
Mrs Fawcett, Mr Turner .Mr. Jack Bannister
Mr. Charlie Maddock. Mr.
Gregory
My first form teacher was Mr
Hodgeson, and he took us for art each Friday afternoon. As time went on he would
bring in a large tape recorder and play back the previous evenings Top of the
the Pops programme as we painted , this was only if we had behaved during the
week . The first week's passed , their was also a few undesirable prefects to
avoid who seemed to have a somewhat sadistic side believing they could get way
with anything -if in unity to gether so my friends and I used to stay clear of
them. The teacher to avoid was Mr Lions , by name and nature , and
remember this was in the days of corporal punishment . One only had to look at
Mr Lions to feel the wrath of vengeance breathing close to ones neck, however in
later years he became a good teacher to me and one I have never forgotten .
Due to the nature of the operations
I had had some months earlier I was not allowed contact sports , so each week we
would arrive at Croft park by school bus and whilst the rest of the lads would
don rugby gear I would be sent on a 3 mile hike around Furness Abbey. The
school had a set cross country run, and was in a lovely location , and
each year had its annual run when everyone took part. Back then there was no
issues about having scholars running around by themselves , and so I started to
really enjoy sports day -but not for cross country, oh no,........ I had other
plans .
As any youngster back then I loved
trains, and knowing the times of the services made it possible to nab a few
numbers whilst out on cross country . The mainline ran under the road at Furness
Abbey tunnel, with a walkway down to a crossing near it. I soon figured out that
by hiking it as fast as I could from Croft Park to that point would see at least
4 trains pass before having to belt it back to the playing fields just as
everyone is packing up ready to go home. Puffing and panting like blazes, the
masters were unaware I had only ran a few hundred yards back to catch the bus
home.
This went on each week, but when it
came to the real cross country there was no escaping that , and I do think it
made them suspicious when I came in near the last out of over 300 after a solid
years training on the course.
Another amusing thing with sports
was when we started to attend Abbey Road baths . We would walk down Dalton Road
to the public swimming baths, some weeks we had a bus to take us depending on
how many classes were booked .I had never been to the swimming baths before and
had little confidence in trying to stay afloat let alone move in the water. We
were all told to line up and given numbers , when my number came up I threw
myself into the water and the shock made me open my mouth , the next thing
I remember was the attendants leaning on my back squeezing water out of me, from
there on in I was in the beginners pool , and within a few months learnt
to swim passing all of the standards .
Our Religious teacher was Mr
Westall, one of the younger teachers at the school but still quite terrifying
when upset. The school purchased new desks about 1967 and we had to be so
careful not to spill ink or mark them. One day during a R.I .(Religious
Instruction) period Mr Westall went out for a few minutes. All hell broke loose
, with several of the lads causing trouble , flicking pellets etc and one desk
got tipped over. On his return , although the class seemed composed , he spotted
ink on several desks and the floor from the inkwells. He asked for those
responsible to own up, no takers , he asked again, . then he threatened to
punish the whole class, and when he says that he meant it , fire and brimstone
style , old testament , eye for an eye. However then several of the culprits
owned up, probably aware the rest of the class would deal to them if they did
not put their hand up, then a fight broke out in the classroom so Mr Westall
ordered those involved to the front of the classroom. The six boys were made to
bend over and he produced a three meter tee square and slowly lined each of them
up so every backside was in alignment. We all had to duck as he swung the tee
square and whacked the boys, but then more trouble. Two of them tried to tackle
him and take the tee square away, by now desks were getting knocked over left
right and centre and the noise altered Mr Scanlon in the adjoining room who came
to his aid. Next minute Mr Lions appeared and whilst I can not recall what
happened to the culprits I do remember out of around thirty desks over two
thirds had sustained ink blotches during the scuffle. Mr Westall was still a
very likable teacher , I think as we grew up he mellowed like many of the
masters but the 60's were a changing time .
When I see the way the young people
dress today for school and the general standards so low in manners and respect
to one another and their elders, I look back on my school days with affection
and in some ways wonder why have things changed so much.We did not have the
technology back then , yet we achieved and generally respected others and
boundaries . Next time I will conclude this chapter and show the only
known surviving cartoon I drew of the teachers , and how one day in English
class made me appreciate the power of the pen.
Until then,
kind regards,
Wallace
FOOTNOTE
ALFs is soon to close taking so many memories some of them mine as my MAM was a Dinner lady there until she retired after 40 odd years service to school meals -----JOHN (WEBMASTER )
PICTURE WITH THANKS TO BILL CLARKS southlakes site
As our weather is now finally on the
turn into spring with daffodils blooming and snow fast disappearing (I hope)
from the Tararua Mountains to the East, as beautiful as it looks we are
welcoming warmer weather after a long winter which has been very wet in many
areas causing lots of slips . During July we had a series of very bad storms ,
one put us without power for almost 40 hours , another lightning storm caused an
outage which had us with lights but no powerpoints after a transformer was
struck down the road .
Today is Fathers Day and we enjoyed
a morning out with my wife's parents at a place called the Red Barn just south
of Otaki . Marvellous morning with sun shining and cloudless blue sky, I was
awoken at around 6am to hear a Tui bird singing in a nearby tree, its another
sign life is returning after the hibernation of many. Around our home is an
abundance of wildlife and animals, and we are most fortunate to have a stream
flowing through the property . Occasionally we see eels and freshwater crabs,
and with the sound of water flowing over the small waterfall' s we built , all
makes for a consistent passive environment.
On arriving back from our' brunch
'we spotted the latest arrival , two ducks with their offspring all out for a
Sunday 'drive'heading upstream towards the farm next door. The photos captured
most of the family group .
This weeks 'goof'
story:
Wednesday morning the radio
was on at breakfast, a lady recalling the day war broke out and having to get
out of London. I made the call to the radio station , found a free dialling
number-hmm that's good I thought.
Rang and spoke to the announcer and
told him" today is also' Merchant Navy Day ', still to be officially recognised
in New Zealand !" About 15 minutes later he mentioned the
fact. Sometime later another listener rang in and said somewhere in New
Zealand they do recognise the date, but is was rather confusing and so I sat
down and emailed the facts as I have from the New Zealand Merchant Navy
Association. I did not mince words and plainly mentioned New Zealand 's
Government is dragging anchor on the issue, whilst UK, Canada and Australia all
now recognise the Red Ensign for the lost and fallen seafarer's who kept the
countries and allies fed and supplied.
Friday morning and I am busy in my
office as my wife gets ready for work , when she calls me to the radio. The
email I had sent was broadcast . Okay it got the message out, but what I did not
realise is my wife often changes stations and I thought the station called The
Coast was local.
No it was Auckland ,and
broadcasting national!!.
During the week we enjoyed watching
the film 'Elizabeth -The Golden Age' , about the Spanish Armada , and catching
up a series I missed when first screened ,' William and Mary ', a lovely
romantic British comedy.
I will write about the 'ALF'Sin the near future , if the Secret Service have not hauled me away and
wish each and everyone of you a peaceful and happy week.
regards
Wallace
PLEASE NOTE---
Wallace has kindly been worlking so hard for this site but must now concentrate on his own artistic commissions for a while . I have therefore advised him to take a short break from his blogg spot so he can catch up with his own work ---He will be back soon
Whilst referring to my diary kept
during these years, its not exactly clear why we travelled due west to Europe
instead of east via the Panama Canal , which may have been quicker. The Suez
canal was still closed to shipping after the 1967 six day war had seen several
merchant ships stranded in the Bitter Lakes, one of which was the Blue Star Line
vessel 'Scottish Star'.
Following our departure in
Hobart we sailed bound for Durban, again not clear why Durban when we were
not going through Suez, however events during our first night back at sea forced
our hand after a breakdown and problem with number 7 cylinder, by the time we
were up and running at reduced speed orders had changed and our next stop was
now Melbourne later the same day. Tasmania was still visible by the time I
came off watch at 8am , whilst it was the lights of Melbourne I would see 12
hours later.
We sailed into Port Philip Bay and anchored whilst parts were
delivered to us by tug boat. I have no record as to what exactly was wrong
but repairs were carried out into the night then I was back onto watches again
as we sailed out of Melbourne, next stop three weeks away. An uneventful
crossing seeing hardly any ships arriving at Durban on April 24th 1975. No shore
leave , its was strictly for bunkers, fuel and fresh water, which took 16 hours
in total then we were sailing back to Capetown, this time to collect mail which
had missed us and would be brought out by launch to us.
We arrived Capetown on
April 28th , it was very foggy and quite eerie with the sound of other ships
blasting their foghorns all around us. We knew they were there and they knew we
were somewhere? As we waited for the mail , Ian the chief
electrician dropped an empty can of beer into the water below, I glanced down
only to see a huge shark appear , attracted by the sound of the can hitting the
water. We estimated by the size of the can , this shark was all of 3- 4 metres
long .
This leads me to tell you about
another fishing episode earlier in the trip. We were catching fish off the aft
end of the ship whilst at anchor off Durban when in the excitement I tossed the
hammerhead shark I had caught behind me and went straight into the swimming pool
where Bill and Davie were enjoying a quiet swim. I have never seen grown
men move so fast.
We drained the pool to get it
out......dead!!!
We sailed out of Capetown eventually
clearing the fog seeing the top of Tabletop emerging out of a large blanket
smothering the city and port. Another three weeks passed as we sailed
north back into homewaters passing through the English Channel into the
North Sea and onto the Baltic. Fortunately we were blessed with good
sailing weather, it was now late Spring in England and over 5 months had passed
since leaving Liverpool. I took a photo of a sunset in the North Sea -as
shown , just before the 'Green Flash' , where the sun turns green for a
split second-only witnessed out at sea in the right conditions.
Arrival at Copenhagen , Denmark was on May 18th, a lovely historical
port, home of 'Hamlet's' Castle , and Carlsberg Lager. We had been at sea almost
7 weeks without going ashore , hence when a tour was organised around the Beer
factory, absolutely, nobody turned it down.
Discharge of cargo complete , the
tour was organised on the very day we had to leave to cross the Baltic to
Helsingborg Sweden , only a stones throw . However moving a ship requires
all procedure's to be carried out to the letter regardless of distance and so
the tour was organised into two. Engineers first, to get back and get the ships
engine ready , with Captain and deck on the second tour.
Perhaps it was unforeseen at the
time or just a confusion over bookings , but with engineers back safely
the tugs arrived early as did the pilot and stand by was rung, with just one
problem , no Captain, or deck officers other than the duty 3rd mate who seemed
quite bewildered at the prospect of us sailing without a Master on board.
. Fortunately our pilot and tug master saw the funny side to it, perhaps the
Blue Star Line accountants did,not when they got a larger bill for attendance
charges. With all on board we sailed for Sweden. The crossing took around 4
hours port to port. A further two days or discharging our cargo then orders came
to sail for dry-docking at Wallsend . We were going home
.
Mother nature though had one final
test , a deep low had moved in over the North Sea directly in our path, and with
the ship light , only minimal ballast had been placed in her tanks , and the
ship was low on fuel and fresh water so our weight was the lightest it had been
all trip. We had departed Helsingborg on the evening tide of the 23rd and
our ETA for UK was 1pm next day.
The storm got worse as we got deeper
into the North Sea, but I was thoroughly enjoying it , no worries like I had at
the start, this was mother nature at her very best, and I went up on the bridge
to experience the whole show coming at us bow first.The sea was the mixture of
greens, greys and deep blues mixed with masses of white tops the wind howling
and spray flying everywhere , hard to believe this was the same passive
sea we had passed through a week prior.
Montreal Star had to reduce speed
from 16 knots down to 8 to avoid damage to the stern gland and propeller shaft
as the ship dropped into large troughs bringing the stern well clear of the
waterline making the ship shudder as the huge blades revolved .
The sea currant
running strong, another 'position sight' was done during a break in the
clouds to reveal we were moving backwards. the currant was sending us back
towards Scandinavia not England. So we rode this storm out for several more
hours finally making headway and arrived off the Tyne Coast at 7pm , the sun was
shining and hardly a breath of wind to indicate what we had passed
through. We had missed the tide so sat at anchorage for another eight
hours before heading in on the next tide and entering the dry-dock .
The engines
shutdown , and shoreside power put on the whole vessel fell into silence , a
most strange sensation after six months , the smells of hot oils and diesel were
starting to dissipate and it all had a surreal feel to it, and sadness. The
adventure over, but would I return , would one trip be
enough?
Saturday May 25th
1975
What had awakened inside me was an
awareness that this was the best life for any single man , yet I needed to touch
base with family, friends who I had missed . At around 1pm a relief engineer
arrived, I collected all relevant paperwork, discharge book, and said goodbye to
the 'shipmates' who were ' family', both officers and crew ,took one last
look into the engine room and walked down the gangplank. Just outside the
dockgates sat a familiar looking blue and white Austin Countryman A60 estate
car, my family had driven from Barrow to meet me, and thus here ends my
first sea adventure.
More adventures in future
blogs.
Next time I take you back to 1964
when I began at Alfred Barrow Boys. The teachers, the lads, and all the things
we got up to!!!!.
The world of 2008 is far removed
from that of 1975 with the technology we all now have available. For
thousands of seafarers back then a voyage from one continent to another was
quite literally being out of contact with the world. Ships would receive and
send messages via each other , which took time, with no satellite
navigation our position at sea was always by sight from the sun and
stars. Truly we were at the mercy of the elements and relied on the
professionalism of good seafaring and engineering. One could pick up on world
events once near land by receiving either the world service or local channels on
a personal radio. Each week we would have a movie on board, films were
issued to each British Merchant navy vessel and rotated from ship to ship when
swaps were done in ports. Sometime we would lend them out to Russian ships as
their seafarers rarely saw anything from the west , depending on their skipper.
Arrival in Hobart was wonderful, we
would be loading apples for Europe. After three weeks of just sea, the city
looked lovely, surrounded by lush hills and impressive mountains, I was allowed
on the Bridge to witness seeing my first Australian port. Later that day the
second mate asked if I could post some letters to his wife as I was going
ashore. Hobart looked so clean and inviting, we were the only ship in port
except thePort Line vessel ' Port Nicholson' which had suffered major
engineering problems and was stranded awaiting parts to arrive from overseas. I
dropped Peters mail in a letterbox near the Post Office, then went and bought
some postcards to write home but they told me to post them at a different
letterbox which I thought nothing of , at the time.
It however turned out that I had
posted Peter's mail in a disused box , one of Hobart's first pillarboxes and not
opened since about 1948. Needles to say it had become a time capsule of sorts
and this was more evident as they had to get a small engineering company in to
retrieve the mail by removing part of the lid!!
Chief Engineer Bill decided I needed
a few nights off, I had covered every night in port for almost 3 months now as
well as continuous watches . This was great, freedom in a lovely place like
this, but overlooked one thing. My first trip and no doubt others wanted to have
some fun about it. Up to now I had maintained total sobriety , only the
occasional beer to quench the excessive heat after watches were over .
I was
invited ashore with most of the engineers for an evening at the newly opened
Wrest Point Casino. Once again , first time in a Casino. It started with a light
beer but by the evenings end I was knocking back Southern Comforts like they
were going out of fashion. Returning to the ship in taxis we bought some pizzas,
again something new , and Iain the electrician offered me a cigar , which until
then I had never smoked -but took it gracefully and thought why not? I felt
great. Whatever state I was in was likely to get worse as once back on
board the ship another round of drinks began , and although I cannot recall the
actual moment it occurred I somehow dropped my head on the bartop straight onto
my pizza ending up with pizza on my face and glasses with my cigar stubbed over
my mouth. Photos were taken and I was quite oblivious to all this at the time.
However the late evening was to get even better.
The Chief had retired for the
night but his attractive wife Sandra decided their was just too much fun going
on to leave the bar. As Tony (4th engineer) cranked the bar music up to
Neil Diamonds Crunchy Karooler Suite and tried to do ballet dancing with Ron
(3rd engineer )I decided I go one better and grabbed Sandra who was in hysterics
by our antics, meantime Dave the 2nd engineer and Iain were splitting their
sides laughing , so much so Dave fell off his stool backwards behind the
bar stating later it was the best laugh in 12 years at
sea.
Here I was dancing with the Chiefs
wife covered in pizza and a squashed cigar hanging from my mouth. Ron tried to
grab Sandra from me but missed his footing and went flying into a bar light
sending him into space for a few moments.
On returning to sit down at the bar
, trying yet another drink I passed out , waking up in my bunk next morning with
one heck of a hangover and some strange feelings about my person. I was about to
discover what else had been done whilst out cold. My stomach churning I
headed for the abulsion block, and sitting down on the loo passed a great gusto
of wind which straight away sent a huge cloud of dust skyward filling the
cubicle. For one awful moment I thought I had blown my insides out ?
.....but know , whilst out, Sandra had gone and picked up her sons baby talcum
powder and thrown heaps of it down the back of my pants.
Somehow I made it for
breakfast , a quiet meal on board ship, normally conversation only emits from
the Captains table.
At the engineers table Tony mutted
to me, "well you certainly made your name with Blue Star now", then in walked
Bill and Sandra with Grant their son to the quiet saloon. All of sudden a
burst of laughter came from Sandra as she looked at me and this was then
followed by the other engineers, with Bill and the Captain looking quite puzzled
as to what was going on.
Breakfast continued in relative
peace which just grins been exchanged from table to table.
Like any family, word never takes
long to get around and even Jerry and Ivan our stewards asked me sarcastically
if I would like my eggs scrambled or poached .
Parties were always a happening
thing and Blue Star Line had a good name for ships parties . The deck cadet
Wayne, radio officer Brian and I rang around a few places to see what
companies would like to join us for one. Usually the shipping agent would
arrange this but did not stop us asking others. We managed to find interest from
one Hospital where a group of nurses said they would love to come to our
party-if we arranged the transport. It turned out the hospital was 45 kilometres
away , but thanks to Brian who had hired a car for a week we thought that no
problem. On arrival at the Hospital it turned out to be a mental home and we had
been set up as no nurses showed. However several parties did happen and also our
crew held a few which -been Barbadian were tremendous , the carnival atmosphere
of those men was amazing including huge stereo speakers at the time
generating the Three Degrees Song' When will I see you again " right around the
harbour as we sailed out bound for Denmark , one the longest passages for any
vessel to sail with just one scheduled stop back in South Africa for
bunkers/fuel.
We said goodbye to Hobart, home of
'Cascade Beer' and Australia's Factory Plant of the British Cadbury Chocolate
maker
on April 3rd 1975, Helsinger bound
some 6 weeks away. The photographs shown are one of myself wearing deep sea
blues without tie and jacket -probably ready for lunch prior to watch,
with Bill the Chief Refrigeration engineer -not to be confused with Bill
our chief who was alot younger and Dave the second engineer taken in the Indian
Ocean, standing by a winch that controls the derricks and aft steering gear
/bridge. A view of 'Montreal Star' from the bow as we head west back towards
Africa, and a nice view of Hobart port with Montreal Star the ferry Lady
Wakefield which was on loan from Sydney after a terrible bridge disaster which
cut off links across the harbour not long before we
arrived.
Next week we reach Scandinavia and
how our Captain failed to show when the pilot and tugs were ready to move us out
into the Baltic Sea, and how we managed to be sailing backwards in the North
Sea. I will also recap on how our swimming pool had to be evacuated in a
hurry.
Unsure of how to handle the
situation I was in or why this young lady was sitting in our smokco room at 3am
had me perplexed. Not exactly a good time to start chatting someone up as I had
to be back in the engine room within the hour to do a log report, and as
the young lady was black , if caught with her socializing I would face jail.
Such were the rules back then. By chance I heard a noise in the galley and made
my way around the corridor to it and met Jerry the steward. I was able to ask
him to 'escort' the lady away from officers quarters etc and this he had no
hesitation in doing so when I introduced her to him. It appeared she had
been to a New Years party in the crews bar and somehow got lost
.
Other new experiences I discovered
was the excessive heat in Capetown, which seemed to bounce off every corner of
each building which towered over you with a deep blue sky above, along with
Table Top mountain overlooking all of Capetown. The shipping agent arranged a
trip to the top for those able to and this was truly spectacular and certainly a
must for anyone who visits the city. Steam engines were still in service back
then on the Cape and this made the activity on the docks a wonderful site to
watch , many of them built in Britain by North British works but to a
3'6'' gauge , the same as New Zealand and some Australian States at that
time.. The locomotives along with steam tugs working in the port made for
quite interesting smells drifting through the accommodation when the wind was in
the right direction.
We sailed next to Durban on the
Natal coast. This dangerous stretch of coastline is renowned for freak waves
breaking ships backs as wind currants cross tidal currants creating the
occasional high wave with deep trough taking ships by surprise. Thankfully we
did not experience this , but on arrival at Durban two sailing days later we
were told we would be going to anchor yet again as there was industrial action
ashore and berthing would be a problem as it was for about another 80 ships
already at anchor. Once again it was anchor watches allowing more time on deck
to look at other ships looking at us and a spot of fishing. A swimming pool had
been built on the aft deck near the steering gear house made from canvas and
supplied by sea water . It had a cooling effect and certainly far safer than
jumping in the ocean ,however afresh water shower was necessary to remove any
small nasties that got into the pool with you. The lines went out and we caught
mackerel, catfish and shark, including hammerheads. These were about 12-24" long
and one just had to get out of their way when you landed one as they would bite
your toes so you let them bite the ropes then whack em hard on the head. We had
bar be que most days with the fish we caught saving the chief steward or purser
on his budget for evening meals. On one of these days we saw the
Queen Elizabeth sailing out of Durban, a photo show the second electrician Carl
watching her from the starboard quarter of Montreal star. After about four
days of bobbing up and down going nowhere we began to notice the ships
anchored behind us were moving closer to us. On closer inspection we found it
was US that was moving backwards!! . A check of our anchor revealed a serious
problem , the windlass -the machine that drops and retrieves the anchor had a
huge crack in it and was loosing traction on the chains, so alarm bells were
rang for stations and we had to start engines and leave our anchorage . For the
next ten days we kept moving the ship out to sea , stopping and drifting back
towards Durban so we were safely away from any collision but close enough to get
into port for cargo and repairs when our call came.
Eventually we arrived alongside ,
one of my photos shows Durban's skyline taken looking aft with the ships
red ensign blowing in the wind . During our 4 days in Durban the shipping agency
arranged a tour of the Tribal villages called The Thousand Hills and
Valleys. The radio officer called Brian had a regular girlfriend in Durban
whom he had arranged to take on the tour. As I was the only engineer who could
go-being the night man , as all others were busy on repairs during the day
he asked me if his lady friend should bring afriend to make up another
couple. Seemed fine to me I thought, what have I to loose ...... in a
manner of speaking.. and 'green' as the hills we were to
visit. We arranged to meet them in Durban for a drink then head to
the rendezvous point for the start of the tour. Brian and I were sitting
in the 'whites only' bar when his lady friend showed, an attractive slim long
haired brunette wearing shorts and white tee-shirt, and her companion
which turned out to be her mother wearing a long skirt ,cardigan, late
50's curly grey hair style , enough 'make up' to have used up the Japanese
whaling fleet and gold rimmed glasses!!!! I just glared at
Brian , was this a set up or what!! After introductions I sat and
thought what excuses I could make to get out of this bizarre situation. I was 21
and this very nice lady was older than my mother!!. The
drink flowed fast.
We arrived to join our other party
of seafarers all going on the tour , some were Russians , some Australians
and a few Americans from a US Navy ship in port. To say I got some looks
is quite tame, and I was waiting for someone to offer me a lollypop and tell me
to shut up.
On reaching the village it was very
interesting. Huge mud houses the size of a mansion had been built by these
people and their heritage went back many hundreds of years. The men in their
warrior costume, women were all topless in their native attire,, I
took this as another tease from Brian as am sure he had been here before and
several dances were performed for their guests. I did take photos of the day but
being a family site have not posted any and leave it to your imagination what we
experienced .
Arriving back at the ship we sailed
next day for East London -a small coastal port south of Durban -photo shows
part of this small port where more of our general cargo was offloaded ,
then sailed the same day for Port Elizabeth , our final unloading port in South
Africa. The Chief Engineer reported that repairs to the windlass in Durban were
not satisfactory and more work was needed and could be done in Capetown with
shoreside help, so we sailed back to the Cape this time in ballast where by
several tanks are flooded with sea water to keep the ship lower in the water and
more stable for deep sea passage.Our orders were for Australia but still not
clear where or for what. Repairs effected , the ships made ready for
its next long voyage, we departed Capetown heading out into the wide
expanse of the Indian Ocean, our destination would be Hobart ,Tasmania, 21 days
away.
Next week I will tell you about how
I managed to send the Chief Officers mail back in time, knocked the third
engineer out , evacuated the swimming pool and gave the second engineer
the best laugh he had had in 12 years of sealife.
During the next few hours my new
apprenticeship began in haste as I learnt to deal with trying to keep my balance
as the vessel lurched and pitched in the increasing high seas . I began to
wonder if this is how it is in the depths of the ship-what's it like upstairs
??? Ad to this the noise , vibration and heat of all this new machinery
made for a rather interesting experience to say the least, especially when our
well being relied on me learning all about what everything did as fast as
possible and where all the hundreds of pipes ran and which valves opened and
shut the various fluids circling around us.
For the days leading up to the
voyage I had met the 'deep sea crew, both engineering and deck officers as they
returned from leave and joined the vessel relieving their coastal equals. The
Chief was now Bill , second engineer -our working boss Dave from Newcastle, Ron
remained with us as third, Tony a Londoner as fourth and Davie from Norfolk as
fifth engineer , so I was sixth engineer sometimes referred to as Junior.The
engineroom staff also included a Chief Fridgeration Officer, his name was Bill
from Glasgow our most senior member in his late fifties and became a real
friend over the coming months, a Chief Electrician called Ian from Hull,
plus two fitters , and three firemen or greasers , often referred to as
donkeymen. These men were Barbadian , with most crew coming from the West
Indies.
For the benefit of those who have
never seen inside a ship of that time , the engine room started at the top where
both the oil fired boiler and exhaust boiler were housed inside the funnel. The
ship moved over to exhaust gas boiler once out at sea , using the main motors
own heat to transfer heat for water for accommodation and galley use. The Main
engine often referred to as a Cathedral engine because of their huge size was
run on diesel fuel entering and leaving port for quick movements, but went on
heavy oil at sea. Heavy oil was a thick black gooey molasses type
substance that smelt of methane , and went into a very dense state when stored
without heat. Hence heating to tanks to liquefy the oil for transfer to service
tanks was very important passing through purifiers and filters.
Descending from the boilers to the
top plates where the cylinder heads of the main engine were, rather like
becoming Tom Thumb and going under the bonnet of your car. Down the next flight
to middle plates where the main switchboard, refrigeration plant, workshop ,
stores and brineroom were and to the bottom plates where the controls were with
four large generators all about the size of a locomotive engine , compressors,
water pumps, purifiers, condenser, bilge pumps and air tanks. Under your feet
were the double bottom tanks and then there was the tunnel shaft which led to
the fire pumps and stern gland with the huge propeller swishing on the
outside. Everything was on a big scale . Painted light green the big 8
cylinder Sulzer kept thumping away through the night.
I had not worked nights since
1971-2 , so it seemed a quite a stretch to stay down in the engine room until
4am when Ron said I could head up for breakfast. "BREAKFAST" ,- I was having
problems holding down the cups of tea the donkeyman had brewed for us let alone
try and eat anything. I decided to have a shower and head straight to the
sanctuary of my cabin for some zzzz's
By now the moon had risen and
skies cleared, but the light on the sea showed the large troughs we were now
ploughing through and for the first time I realised this was no dream and some
reservations of what I had done. I don't recall getting much sleep ,nor could I
stand in my cabin with the violent rolls and pitching feeling we were
going to tip over and find ourselves heading in a liferaft off Southern
Wales, but we didn't and finally nodded off . Daylight brought an overcast day
with no sight of land whatsoever though I was told we had passed the Bristol
Channel and were now well off the Lizard heading out towards the Bay of Biscay.
We had two stewards on board, Ivan and Jerry . Ivan looked after the engineering
officers all located on port side of the ship, Jerry the Deck officers on
starboard.
Meals on board were staggered for
various watches, but it was expected you wash and dress in uniform for every
meal except the 4- 8 engineer who took his tea in the smokcoroom . Smokco is
terminology for Smoke and cuppa , I should suggest for anyone so interested
please visit the site www.bluestarline.org and check out the
logpage which has a feature on all terms and slang
meanings used at sea .
After some lunch it was back into my
boilersuit and down on watch and more acquaintance with the labyrinth of
machinery and pipes. This is how it was to be for the coming weeks , whilst I
gained confidence in the job , the lifestyle and in
myself.
I soon grew to know that as long as
I did what was expected and asked questions on anything uncertain I would
not upset anyone . MV Montreal Star carried a compliment of approximately 47and
on this voyage included one woman, the Chiefs wife Sandra and their three year
old son Grant. One of the most humorous episodes was to happen to me in a matter
of weeks at a port, being a first tripper I well expected to be the brunt of
jokes and this was certainly to come .
After a few days the weather began
to settle down , and off to the east each morning was a beautiful orange sunrise
over the Sahara desert . The sea was very calm now and voyage far more
pleasant. We continued heading south for the next 9 days
,.........then it was
Christmas Day . No change in watch keeping , but the bar had a Christmas Tree
decorated and those not on watch made the atmosphere seem right especially as we
had a child on board . I was interested in the various ships that we sp
