December For our December meeting, Member Alan Pepper presented pictures recently scanned from his family collection. Starting with a visit to New York to see the Statue of Liberty and the World Trade Centre in 1980, from which views of the Hudson and East Rivers were seen and where the liners DORIC and OCEANIC were identified by our experienced audience. …
Bedford – November
November Bedford welcomed Bill Mayes back for our November meeting with his latest presentation on his travels undertaken in 2023. Time on the water covered ferries and cruise ships, covering journeys on the North Sea, Western Mediterranean and Atlantic. Cruise Ships travelled on were AURORA, WORLD EUROPA, RESILANT LADY , MSC EXPLORA I and SPIRIT OF DISCOVERY plus numerous ferries. An …
Bedford – October
October 2024 The October presentation by Don McKeand started with a brief look at the ships used in the earliest days of Antarctic exploration by Cook and James Clark Ross. Then the advent of steam with ships used by Scott, Shackleton, Amundsen and other explorers of the “heroic age”. Between the wars the need for sail assistance declined. Ships were …
Bedford Branch – September
September The September presentation given by member Edward Parry was somewhat different to the normal detailed ship reviews – it was a selection of video clips which covered many aspects of the merchant navy from years ago port ports from around the world.. In brief these included •Liverpool Sea School training cadets in 1964(Blue Funnel line) •OCL Containership Ships – …
Bedford – August 2024
August 2024 For our August meeting Alan Moorhouse gave his latest presentation Voyagers across the Seas a selection of 90 ships seen in European and North American seas and ports. Vessels seen, in crisp images, included a wide variety of ships from Tugs to Tankers with many of his main interest Cruise Ships. Included in the show were images taken …
Bedford Branch Notes – July 2024
July 2024 Recovering from health issues by the sea Jim Charnock was unable to make his annual visit to Bedford in July. His place was taken by Alan Moorhouse who up to his teens lived at Timperley within walking distance of Jim. They both enjoyed viewing ships on the Manchester Ship Canal at the same area but never meet in …
Bedford Branch May 2024
May 2024 Michael Galley gave an insight into the world of international shipbreaking at his presentation for the May meeting. Staring with an overview of the history world shipbreaking then concentration on the main sites currently breaking up ships. In India and Pakistan ships are run ashore on gently sloping sand tidal beaches at high tide so that they can …
Bedford Branch April 2024
April 2024 The April meeting evening was devoted to members DVD’s. We started with the Snowbow DVD Ships to Manchester. This port was once the nation’s fourth biggest port and in its heyday would have been full of ships. This was made possible by the construction of the Manchester Ship Canal which was completed in 1894 to enable ships from …
Bedford Branch February 2024
February 2024 Many thanks to Alan Pepper for stepping in at short notice when the intended February presentation was not available. Alan’s presentation was a draft of a show intended for a non-ship enthusiast audience, in this case a local church. It aims to remind the audience that merchant ships still exist and the important role they play. Container ships, …
Bedford Branch January 2024
January 2024 The branch started 2024 off by showing 2 DVD’s about the Port of London. The first DVD was based on period News Reals. First images being taken in 1919 of the concrete constructed coaster ARMISTICE also completed in 1919, seen at East India Docks. The DVD took us through the history of the port showing the changing methods …