January 2025 Bedford kicked off 2025 programme with two films from Dave Menzies’ collection both filmed in Liverpool and Birkenhead. The films seen were Mersey Memories No1 and Snowbow Great Liners No 26. Both films looking at sailings from Liverpool. Reviewing the ships providing these services from companies such as Cunard Lines, Cunard White Star Lines, Pacific Steam Navigation as …
Bedford – December
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. …
Isle of Wight – November
November Our speaker for 28 November was Dr Dominic Fontana, FRGS, FRA who gave a thoroughly researched and comprehensive presentation, ‘The Battle of The Solent-19 July 1545 & The Mary Rose’. Having spent some 30 years in the research of the Mary Rose and academia, he unravelled the threat from the French who were in The Solent and gave us …
Haven Ports – November
November Haven Ports branch held their Branch AGM on Thursday 14th of November, at the “Felixstowe Museum” on Viewpoint Road, Felixstowe. A good attendance witnessed the returning of all Branch officers for another year. The branch’s finances are holding up despite very little income. Next years program will be a mixture of Zoom and physical meetings, but has yet to …
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 …
Isle of Wight – October
October The 24 October Meeting welcomed back the grand old gentleman and Arctic Convoy Veteran, Alec Penstone. Alec joined up as a 20 year old in 1943 and drafted to a WW1 submarine which was past its best. He survived 10 and a half Arctic convoys on the sub and later HMS Campania. A bad scene he witnessed at Murmansk …
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 – …
Isle of Wight – September
September For the meeting held on 26 September last we were pleased to welcome Jeremy Thomas who presented his well illustrated and thoroughly researched talk on the WW1 German cruiser SMS Emden. A little know campaign of a maverick cruiser that wreaked havoc among allied shipping from the Pacific to the Indian Ocean. Her quick getaway from a kill relied …
Merseyside – August 2024
August 2024 It was with great that we welcomed our own branch member Philip Welsh to our August 2024 meeting. Philip’s presentation was yet another of many he has gave in the past about the Cammell Laird Shipbuilders at Birkenhead. This time he talked about the 1964 to 1977 era. Both Phil’s commentary and fantastic slides were of very high …