During much of his long retirement, my father's interest in ships was kept alive by this magazine, which he read even more closely than his newspaper, The Daily Telegraph.
The other day I found, in amongst the rest of the junk that has moved with me, the front cover page from the November 1988 edition. It took me a few moments to realise why I had kept it: the date. My father died on 9th November 1988, so this would have been the last edition he looked at.
While it would have been even better had the ship been a Harrison Line ship, while BI ships were looked after by a rival agency in Mombasa, Smith MacKenzie, my father had many friends associated with the line, not least his great friend Bill Solly, who for many years was a captain in the line. Bill and Margaret retired to the Isle of Man but came across to England every year, in the summer, to stay with my parents and to attend some cricket matches.
To my surprise - perhaps, I shouldn't have been - 'Ships Monthly' is still going - see link here.
Lovely insight Jon. My dear old Dad worked for P&O. Head Office stuff, but it all fascinated and entranced me. He often used to take crew mail to the cruise ships as they "turned around" over a weekend. We often were given tea etc and little mementoes including a book I've still got- "Business in Great waters". Smashing memories.
ReplyDeleteAs always, great to hear from you, Peter, and thanks for the comment. There's something very special about ships and the people that crew them, the idea that they travel to do business in distant lands. I too used to go on board ships with my father: such a treat for a small boy.
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