I went home for some leave, of which my main memory is of going to the races at York and Epsom. I must have been an optimist as I went to Brigg Market Place in the hope of somehow getting a ride to York.
I met an old Brigg worthy there, Edmund Thorpe, a retired coal merchant. When I told him I was hoping to get to York, he pointed to a group of men and told me they were going to the races. They said I could join them.
When their transport arrived it was driven by an ex-school fellow, Frank Proctor, and was a hire car. I offered to pay my share of the car hire; it was one pound which was a very reasonable fare for a round trip of at least a hundred miles.
The three men were all prosperous farmers; two of them had sons who had been at school with me.
Feeling flush with money after getting paid for the voyage, I went into Tattersall's ring at a cost of thirty shillings. This gave access to the parade ring around which horses walked prior to racing.
There I saw Johnny Proctor, owner of the Lord Nelson pub in Brigg and also owner of Sheila's Cottage which won the Grand National in 1948. Mr Proctor knew my Dad and Grandad so I introduced myself and asked him if his horse, Keepatwoatwo, was going to win. He thought it would not and he proved to be right. The winner of the big race that day was Miraculous Atom owned by a man who farmed near Brigg.
A few days later I set off for Epsom to see the Oaks, a classic race for three year old fillies, and the Coronation Cup on the following day. I wish now that I had stayed one more day to see the Derby, England's most prestigious flat race, which Disraeli described as the Blue Riband of the Turf.
I re-joined the Anchises in time to sign on for the next voyage on 6 June. This was to be a shorter trip. First to Bangkok, where we lay off shore and discharged cargo into lighters and so none of the crew got ashore, and then went to Singapore, Port Swettenham and Penang. This trip I had a new first electrician from Newcastle. We were paid off in Liverpool on 29 August.
I cannot recall how I spent my leave in Brigg. It did not last very long as only two weeks later I signed on in the Peleus. This was one of the best ships in Blue Funnel's large fleet. It was powered by a steam turbine, was about 20% bigger than the Anchises and carried forty passengers. It also carried enough refrigerated cargo to warrant an extra engineer who did not keep watches in the engine room but looked after the refrigerating equipment. The first electrician, Clarrie Bentley, had been at sea for several years. I did not like him much and when we got back to Liverpool the electrical superintendent at head office was keen to know how I had got on with him. I learned that my predecessor had complained about him and had asked for another ship. I told the boss that although we were not bosom pals I found him a capable man and I would be quite happy to sail with him again. This all got back to Clarrie who told me that he was grateful for my words.
After leaving Liverpool we went to Rotterdam to load more cargo and I had a trip ashore. Back in England strict food rationing was still in force, but in Holland, which had suffered almost five years of German occupation, food appeared to be plentiful.
From Rotterdam we went to Plymouth Sound for a brief stop to pick up mail and then left bound for Port Said. We had the usual short stay there and then through the Suez Canal to Aden where again we only had a brief stop for taking on fuel oil.
After Singapore it was on to Hong Kong, where we berthed on the Kowloon side of the harbour. A ferry took me over to the other side where I went up The Peak by the rack railway but do not remember much else except that, as everywhere in the East, drinks were expensive so I stuck to my sixpenny double gins on the ship.
Visiting Hong Kong again in 1996, I was amazed by the number of skyscrapers and the amount of building work which was still going on despite the imminent transfer from British rule. Only the ferries appeared the same.
More memories from Cliff to come on Brigg Blog...
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