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Belfast Lough & Head Line

2K views 10 replies 10 participants last post by  Jim McFaul 
#1 ·
Hi all
Greetings from New Zealand.
I grew up in Bangor, on the shores of Belfast Lough, and in my teens spent a lot of time listening to ships on RT, watching them pass and sometimes communicating with them by lamp, and visiting callers to Bangor.
I knew the "Whin" and sailed on her to Preston & Glasgow as a "passenger", sleeping on the setee in the Captain's cabin.
I also knew a lot of the smaller Kelly's ships, just about the time they were introducing the "Bally-" naming scheme.
When I reached 16, I joined the Head Line as an apprentice, sailing on the "Rathlin Head" on her second voyage in Dec 1953. I stayed on her until April 1956, back & forth to Montreal, Saint John and other ports, when I went ashore in Montreal.
The rest of my life has been on shore, in Canada until 1978, when I moved to NZ.
Would be interested to hear from anyone whose path I may have crossed, or who would like to chat about shared experiences.
Regards to all.
Wil Smith
 
#9 ·
Welcome from Victoria BC Wil. Am quite sure you will enjoy the site. Was born in Bangor, overlooking Pickie Pool! Hardly recognise the place now. Met quite a few Head Line guys when up for my tickets in Belfast. One John Auld comes to mind, the ultimate character. Did a few nights on board with Head Line which helped the cash flow on study leave. Think they paid 15 shillings which was good for half a dozen Watneys. All the best Colin
 
#10 ·
Thank you to all for your welcome, and to Ken @ Tilbury who sent me some great photos of Head Line ships.
The recent news reports of the storm surge in the North sea area reminded me of Sat 31 Jan 1953. I was 15 and regularly listened to ships on RT. That day I picked up 7 SOS's, and listened to a lot of search/rescue traffic, the main being for the Larne-Stranraer ferry "Princess Victoria". Our house looked out on Belfast Lough, and early in the day there were a number of ships sheltering on the Antrim side, but when the PV search began, most up-anchored and headed out to try to assist.
I must apologize to any ships officers I may have annoyed, as I used to signal passing ships by Morse lamp, to ask their name - just to add to my "collection". As it was usually after dark, they would not know that it was from a private house, and may have thought it an official station. After going to sea I realized that it would be the watch officer who would answer, and that their Morse was probably not the best! However, my thanks to any who did reply!
Regards to all. Wil
 
#11 ·
Hi Wil, just joined Ships Nostaglia and although our paths have probably never crossed your note brought back some memories particularly on the loss of the Princess Victoria. As a youngster I had been to the Saturday morning matinee at the local picturehouse in Larne and coming back to our house in Quay Street at mid-day could not understand why it was so full of people with one of the neighbours busy searching on my dad's trawler waveband set. 'It's the Victoria' someone said 'she's sinking'. Most of the people there had friends or relatives serving on her and many were lost. My uncle Dan was on her running mate, the Princess Margaret, at the time and my dad was on the Saint Kentigern seeking shelter in Belfast Lough which may be one of the vessels you saw there. A short time later I spent a year at Crawfordsburn Hospital near Bangor. While laid-up I still had a wonderful unobstructed view of Bangor Bay across to White Head from the big bay window beside my bed and amongst all the other shipping saw the daily morning and evening sailings of all the Belfast ferries and the American aircraft craft carriers just anchored off that seemed to be a regular feature with the large twin rotor helicopters often flying straight over the hospital. Watching this continuous procession of ships was one of the reasons for my lifelong interest in ships. Later still I joined the Belfast Branch of the WSS. Jim McFaul
 
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