Sharpness, Gloucestershire

l remember it being dam cold

l came across the vindi site by accident,and was amazed to see the old ship again, l trained on her on the stewards side over the1965 xmas period and went on to travel the world on the m.v. huntsland, carrying cargo all around the world.
seeing the photo brougt back so many memories of many years ago, does anyone else remember the jam butties at the seamans mission or swopping our cap badges with the crews on the russian boats in the docks.

Training

I must have been one of the first on the training ship because I thought it was 1954 I was there, but if it is recorded as c1955 who am I to argue! I was there training for the merchant navy for about 12 weeks. I was the camp bugler until I was relieved of my post because I was caught sitting down at the back of the church when I should have been standing. My first ship was MV Middlesex with The New Zealand Shipping Company. I joined her in Liverpool and was on her for about two months before we sailed to New Zealand via the Panama canal carrying trains on deck. When we got to NZ, the dockers went on strike and we were allowed to load our own ship with lamb carcases as we had refridgerated holds. My ships wages were 11.50 per month but we got 1 an hour for loading our own ship. We felt like millionaires. Barbies on the beach every night. We docked at 4 ports in NZ - Auckland, Napier, Timaroo, and Wellington I think and because of the slow loading we were there for two to three months. While we were at one of the ports the liner 'Dominion Monarch' was also there. I can remember on one evening the shore life-boat was launched with its huge searchlight looking for crew who had jumped ship and were swimming ashore. I don't know if they caught any of them. I have always wondered if the 'Vindi' was still there. I have tried Google Earth and cannot see it, so if anyone knows anything I would like to read about it.

Down the Severn Photographic Memories

As well as timber, Sharpness handled all manner of grains, linseed, palm kernels, cotton seed, offal grains and ground nuts. From here anything up to a 1000 tons a day was taken by barge to mills along the reaches of the upper Severn. On the right of the picture is the grain silo. It was built in the 1930s, and had a storage capacity of 10,000 tons.

Down the Severn Photographic Memories

The National Sea Training School trained both deck and catering ratings for service with the Merchant Navy. The trainees slept in the barrack-type accommodation seen in this picture.

Down the Severn Photographic Memories

Constructed of wrought iron and completed in 1879, the Severn Bridge was the longest tied-arch, bowstring truss bridge on the British railway network. At 4161 ft in length, it carried not only the railway but a gas main. On the evening of 25 October 1960 in dense fog the bridge was struck by the estuarine tankers ‘Arkendale H’, carrying 400 tons of heavy fuel oil, and ‘Wastdale H’, loaded with 350 tons of petrol. Parts of the bridge fell onto the tankers, the gas main was fractured, and the resulting explosion brought down yet more debris onto the vessels. The heat became so intense that it welded the two ships together. Two complete sections of the bridge were destroyed. The bridge was eventually dismantled, part of it being sold to Chile for re-erection as a road bridge. The wrecks of the tankers can still be seen.