Conserving Nelson: The perfect sandwich from National Maritime Museum on Vimeo.

Catch up with what has been happening behind the scenes at the National Maritime Museum to Nelson’s Trafalgar uniform.

I do like paper streamers – the little round coils of thin coloured paper that used to be thrown to and from passenger ships as they left port. The first picture I saw in the Waterline Exhibition was just such a scene, of Orcades in 1962 viewed from the quayside, and what nostalgic memories that brought back.
‘Orcades’ prepaing to leave an unidentified port (P89182)
Leaving a port like Southampton to sail south on a Mailship on a Friday would have been an emotional time for many passengers, and for the people seeing them off. Certainly in the 1960s every ship allowed visitors on board before sailing, with little parties being held in cabins, or in the public rooms. Just before sailing, the ship’s whistle would sound and the announcement made requesting all visitors to leave the ship. That was the moment for final goodbyes as the company’s representatives and VIPs went ashore, and the gangways were removed. The Union-Castle Line banners along the sides of the gangways would be taken off, ready for use again in a week’s time.
Final preparations were made to sail and on the Bridge the Captain would instruct the Deck and Engineering Officers as requested by the Port Pilot on board. On the stroke of one o’clock our ship’s siren would sound three times and the ship would slowly pull away from the quayside. Southampton’s Guildhall clock would chime the hour, and the inhabitants of the city would know from the ship’s siren that a Union-Castle Line Mailship was leaving her home port on her voyage south – they were said to set their clocks and watches by the sound! The sailaway music would start, and so would the tears in many cases, and the streamers would be hurled by the ship’s passengers to their loved ones below. There would be a rainbow of colour stretching from hand to hand, until the last delicate link was gone and the voyage had truly begun. We sailed down Southampton Water, the Pilot would be taken off the ship by small boat, and our course would be set to sail south-west, passing the Isle of Wight and the famous Needles lighthouse and rocks on our port side.
I have my own coloured picture that I took leaning over the teak Promenade deck rail on board the lavender-hulled Union-Castle Line Mailship Edinburgh Castle as we prepared to leave Cape Town in 1967. Down on the quayside are crowds of people all looking up at passengers on the ship, but the whole picture is full of rainbow-coloured paper streamers being held by most of the people, just as it must have been in the Waterline photograph. Whatever the port, it was an emotional and unforgettable scene.

Conserving the H3 Timekeeper from Royal Observatory Greenwich on Vimeo.

A short film documenting the dismantling of John Harrison‘s third marine timekeeper H3. It has been removed from display for cleaning and research for a new chronometer catalogue. It will be back on display in April 2011.

Destinations Near and Far is another chapter to enjoy, with ‘Southampton to South Africa with the Lavender Hull Mob’ being very dear to my heart. Wearing my new Union-Castle Line Purserette uniform and little tricorne hat for the first time, I sailed on the Transvaal Castle in November 1965. As one of five female officers on board, part of my job was the Bureau paperwork including checking tickets and typing passenger lists of all who boarded the ship at every port. This job had priority, whatever the numbers and whatever the hour of day, as we left Southampton for Las Palmas, Cape Town, Port Elizabeth, East London and Durban, before heading back. The ship was my home, as it was for all on board.
Passengers embarking into local boats from the landing stage, St Helena (P94728)
One of the Exhibition pictures is of a ship’s tender coming ashore at St. Helena with passengers and luggage, as the swell makes it impossible to come alongside, and I remember doing that too. On the Capetown Castle Mailship line voyage to Cape Town, I was fortunate enough to call at the South Atlantic islands of St. Helena and Ascension. I was able to have a little time ashore to visit Napoleon’s house and grave, and see the famous tortoises in the grounds of Plantation House. I first saw Jonathan tortoise in 1966 when he was about 117 years old, and was amazed to see him again in December 1999 when he was thought to be 151. He is still alive!
After the Union-Castle cruise ship Reina del Mar returned from South America in 1966 I had to work on her for one trip around the Mediterranean. My memories of that include talking with happy passengers, frequent ports, changing money, selling stamps for postcards, and handing out cabin keys. One of the destinations was Lisbon, as shown in another of the Waterline pictures. I felt very fortunate to have an extremely busy but fascinating job that included interesting destinations.

A recent visit to the esteemed National Maritime Museum in Greenwich, London, instantly brought back some wonderful memories when I saw the micro-exhibition of Waterline Pictures (1925-1970). These came from the Marine Photo Service collection of 16,500 negatives, bought by the NMM in 1996. Curator Mr John Graves then selected two hundred of these images to reproduce in the NMM publication Waterline – Images from the Golden Age of Cruising.
Gentle reader, we are part of a maritime nation, and I believe this book will prove it to you, whatever your age. The pictures will bring back memories for some, delight many others, and amaze and amuse along the way. It is a glorious picture book, with fascinating text to bring the pictures to life. I was a Purserette with Union-Castle Line in the 1960s and those sea-going days on the lavender-hulled Mailships heading to and from Africa were one of the highlights of my life, so I know this is a book to treasure.
The Crossing-the-Line ceremony is mentioned, for passengers crossing the Equator for the first time. Ship’s officers and crew always took part as King Neptune and his Queen and Court and I remembered being a South Sea Maiden on the Capetown Castle in 1966 in particular. I wrote home to my parents, saying: “I thought I had seen most things, but this was quite something. We had custard pies, sausage meat, cocoa, the lot. I had a large trifle thrown straight into my face and I was absolutely smothered with meringue. It was hilarious … My hair had kipper, cocoa, sausage meat, and just plain dirt, all in it and so did the rest of me and my swimming costume and grass skirt.” The passengers who volunteered to take part seemed to enjoy the experience too!
Two ladies in swimming costumes in the “Greasy Pole” competition aboard the ‘Empress of Canada’ (P85862)