Merchant Navy
Manchester Liners staff outing 1952. David Attenborough is standing second from the left. |
David Attenborough - The Great LakesBorn 1907 Hulme, Manchester. Interviewed 1991 - T089  Click here to listen to this extract in RealAudio format.The run was Quebec and Montreal initially, and during the winter before the St Lawrence seaway was opened, and before they decided to navigate the St Lawrence, they used to finish about December, and then they'd go to Halifax and St John for the winter season. And gradually some of the continental ships decided that they would try and get up the St Lawrence and try and dodge all the ice - they used to have an icebreaker. So then it was a question, before that happened, of being the first ship in Montreal - the captain of the first ship in Montreal used to get a gold-headed cane, and our company had it on several occasions. I have photographs of some of the skippers there who actually won the - Q: What was it like a race? It was a race to be the first in Montreal after the ice. Now, of course, they don't close it down at all, they keep the seaway open all the time ... with icebreakers, then the ships have reinforced bows to smash through the ice. |
| Salford Docks | Office work Unloading grain Getting work Overtime Dock Police |
| Merchant Navy | Knowing the ropes Getting work Foreign seamen The Great Lakes Getting logged |
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| Trafford Park | First day at work Wartime food Bombs Engineering Living in the Village |