Was there beer or bubbly at launch?
ONE of the really appealing things about the Tyne is the sheer diversity of vessels that have come out of its yards over the years.
But while you often hear about what happened to the big ships, you hear much less of what became of the little ones. Yet even small craft leave ripples.
Take that picture we had of the Sapphire Swift going into the water at Swinburne's yard at the low end of Shields in the mid-1960s.
I subsequently heard from former Shields lad Bill Newton, now across in Wamuran in Queensland, Australia. He thinks he remembers the event.
Says Bill: "I can remember the launch of the Sapphire Swift, or at least I think it was her.
"I lived in Baring Street and my mate, Davey West, lived in Greens Place.
"We watched, from Greens Place, the launch of a small yacht from Swinburne's. We could see a group of people on the slipway and someone swung a bottle.
"I said 'That'll be champagne,' and one of the of the other bystanders, who were mostly foyboatmen, said "No, it's probably beer'!"
Well, that's the family newspaper-friendly version. They were foytboatmen, after all ...
But was it the Sapphire Swift that Bill saw? Swinburne's built more than one ocean-going yacht, and you wonder now whether some of these elegant craft may still be in the water 40 to 50 years on.
Take the picture here, for instance, which is another from the mid-1960s.
This is John Swinburne himself, watching as Mrs Fred Hutchinson, mother of Dr Peter Hutchinson, of Rainton, the owner, breaks a bottle over the bows of the yacht Whinsill at its launch from the yard.
And, yes, I'm sure it was bubbly.
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Weather for Jarrow
Thursday 09 February 2012
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