Surviving on the Lusitania

 

In 1915, the Lusitania was the largest and fastest passenger in the world. It belonged to the Cunard Steamship Company and regularly sailed between Liverpool and New York, taking about a week each way.  

Edward (known as Teddy) Bond, then aged 40, was a cabin steward on the Lusitania, having worked on Cunard ships since he was a boy, and by then, he had worked his way up (via being a waiter) to the 1^st class cabin section, as had his father (also Edward) before him. Teddy had married his wife Mary in 1909, and the Bonds had, a few years before 1915, moved with their family into 29 Donaldson Street, a nice street with a Welsh chapel (now Crete Gospel Hall) at one end.

Finding direction in life

Photos courtesy of Unsplash 

The River Severn rises in the mountains of Wales, passing by the Powys towns of Newtown, Welshpool and over the border into England. Meandering through Shrewsbury and on to Stourport, Worcester and Gloucester. Here there are inland docks with the commencement of the canal to Sharpness, with its access to the Severn Estuary and the Bristol Channel. The river itself flows on to open out into its famous estuary. It has seen times of substantial waterborne cargoes.

Before the days of steam tugs, hundreds of vessels called trows, either propelled by sail or pulled by horses and men, carried cargoes up to Pool Quay near Welshpool. It was not easy as the river is notorious for being shallow. Crews had to rely upon spring tides  and flood water to keep going. 

Are you struggling with a storm in your life?

Photo by Nathan Hurst on Unsplash

Photo by Jason Blackeye on Unsplash

Photo by Erik Hathaway on Unsplash

There is an old seafaring tradition that if the ship sinks the captain should go down with the ship. Now I will be the first to admit that I don’t know much about sailing, but that sounds like the stupidest tradition of which  I have ever heard.  I think jumping into a life boat and living to sail another day would be much better. Many people today are in danger of going down with the ship, and have the type of attitude that says, “Since the ship is going down, I might as well go down with it.” The storm’s of discouragement, despair, and disbelief threaten to sink us, but rather than going down with the ship we must find a life boat because there is nothing noble about a senseless spiritual death. 

Do you feel like the QE2? - left to rot

All photos courtesy of Unsplash 

The QE2 – the longest, widest, tallest, fastest and most expensive passenger liner when it was built – made 26 circumnavigations of the world and took more than three million passengers a staggering 5,875,264 nautical miles in glittering surroundings that were the epitome of luxury. 

Today, however, more than 55 years after she was launched, the once magnificent QE2 is a discarded shell taking on rainwater and slowly gathering rust alongside a spartan dockside in Dubai’s commercial harbour, Port Rashid. At a distance – and that’s how the security guards like to keep inquisitive tourists – the former Cunard flagship looks as if she is ready to cast off at any moment, full steam ahead on what would be her 1,375th voyage. Close up the reality is tragically different. Gone are the glorious days of pre-dinner cocktails in the Chart Room, formal meals at the captain’s table or late nights over liqueurs in the Yacht Club. No longer do bronzed couples on 80-day world cruises spend lazy hours on sunbeds or enjoy unhurried moonlit strolls around the teak deck.