THE POWER OF THE INTERNET
SS. ORIANA - The last and largest liner to be built in Barrow-in-Furness
I joined Oriana in November 1973; we were setting sail from Southampton for a five-week voyage across the world to Sydney Australia. Although the £10 Pom scheme had finished, we had a number of Brits leaving the old life in Blighty for a brand-new life down under.
As we sailed away from Southampton docks, I was lucky to be up on deck as the military band marched on the Quayside, a garland of streamers reaching from the ship to the hordes of family and friends seeing the ship off. As the magnificent Oriana pulled away from the quay the streamers parted and fluttered to the water as links with England were broken for many passengers as they left England to start their new adventure down under.
As a brand-new junior assistant purser, it was a very emotional and exciting time as I set sail on my working career and adventure around the world on Oriana, lovingly known as
“The Queen of the Sea”
SALTY SEADOG AS JUNIOR ASSISTANT PURSER ON ORIANA
As the excitement of sailing down the Solent faded the reality of working at sea started to set in. Three other recent recruits as purser cadets also joined P&O at the same time as I did, so I was not alone in the brand-new working environment that l loved from day one.
The hierarchy of P&O was akin to the Royal Navy, with the captain like a god figure at the top. The Purser on Oriana at the time was very old school and someone that a lowly Junior assistant purser rarely spoke to. Under the purser were three deputy pursers who were more approachable. I was assigned to the catering deputy purser Brian Hockey, so considered myself very lucky as up until this stage in my career I had mainly worked in hotel kitchens in my home area of the Lake District, so was well versed in this area.
Purser Cadets - The 1974 Intake
During this time, I worked in the ship’s bureau, basically the heart of the purser’s department. Foreign exchange, crew wages, crew and passenger documentation, shore excursions, passenger reception, passenger berthing requirements, and of course the sale of postage stamps from around the world took place from this very busy office.
The purser’s office was run by the senior assistant purser and the senior woman assistant purser. My desk backed onto the desk of the senior assistant purser Stuart Bennett. Although my job was not directly related to the bureau, I was able to observe how the senior assistant purser operated and Stuart became my role model for my time at sea.
STUART BENNETT
Senior Assistant Purser on Oriana
Gill Angrave was the senior woman assistant purser and although she was mainly responsible for the woman assistant pursers (how sexist that sounds now, but that was the way It was in the 1970s) Once again Gill’s desk was in this back area of the bureau where I was based, along with the dreaded Gestetner machine that was used to print all the passenger & crew lists and other port documentation that Gill was responsible for. Another piece for equipment was the coin counting machine where money from the bars and the slot machines was counted. Just imagine sorting foreign coins from around the world.
GILL ANGRAVE - Senior Woman Assistant Purser on Oriana
Traveller's checks and cash were the order of the day, credit cards were a new-fangled idea. Bookkeeping was all done by hand. I was lucky l had an adding machine with a paper audit roll. Computers were yet to arrive.
Stuart and Gill played a crucial role in my initial journey with P&O, providing invaluable support as I set sail and embarked on my adventure with the company.
ROLL ON 50 YEARS
Over the past year, I had the pleasure of reuniting with Gill initially and, just last week, with Stuart. I have the Salty Seadog blog to thank for putting me back in touch with them both.
Stuart is a proud Kiwi, but I don't hold that against him. Earlier this year he contacted me saying that he was coming to the UK for a holiday. I could not believe it when he told me that his relatives lived about 15 miles away from me. So last week we met up for a chin wag and catch up on old times. I would like to say that we have not changed a bit, but in reality that is simply not true, but in our minds, we were those two young men that worked together all those years ago.
After leaving P&O we went our separate ways. Stuart to the Arabian GulfSaudis to run a catering contract for the Saudi’s. After leaving P&O I did a brief stint for Canadian Pacific during which time l visited Jubail in Saudi. So once again we had something else in common as Stuart was based there for a while. While Stuart continued to work in the Gulf States, l left the sea and went into the hotel business in Sussex, UK.
Both of us retired at the beginning of the Covid pandemic, marking the end of our professional journeys. In that period, Stuart made a significant move, leaving his hometown Auckland to settle in the serene Bay of Islands. Despite the distance, he stays connected to his roots through the loving bond with his two children, of whom he is immensely proud. They continue to reside in Auckland, ensuring Stuart's tie with the city
Whilst we enjoyed a nice lunch in a nearby Sussex hostelry we reminisced about our time spent with P&O. We both remembered events that took place on Oriana. Some of which I could not recall and vice versa but we did remember most of the people we worked with especially Wacky Wacher who was Captain of Oriana at the time.
Salty Seadog (left) - Stuart Bennett (center) - Capt Wacher (Right)
I only have one photo of Stuart and me together on Oriana, which happens to be
“Crossing the Line” ceremony where we are both Slap Sticking Captain Wacher.
We enjoyed memories of Harry Cornwell who was the executive chef on Oriana. Harry liked the odd beverage at lunchtime. As catering assistant purser l often had the unenviable task of waking Harry from his afternoon slumber to get him back on duty for dinner service. Harry was one of the longest-serving chefs ,working for P&O.
Following an incident with Captain Wacher, Harry told Wacher to **** *** and although he did not lose his job, he was transferred to the Education Ship Uganda. Stuart arrived on Uganda to prove to Eric Sheppard (P&O Hotel Services Manager) that at a very young age, he was worthy of his 2.5 stripes as Deputy Purser. Arriving on the ship he was greeted by Harry with the welcome "You 'ere too mate, what did you do wrong?"
Following this we sailed together for the last time on Island Princess, Stuart had retained his two and a half stripes following his success with the Uganda catering budget, while yours truly had risen up the ranks to the giddy height of senior assistant purser. We were by this time sailing Alaska, I had joined the ship in Sitka but truly have no recollection of ever flying to Alaska but as you will surely agree the memory does play tricks at times.
Stuart reminded me about an incident while sailing in Glacier Bay, during a lunchtime pour-out on the officer’s deck it was decided that our drinks be served in teacups. Above the officer’s deck was an open deck, packed with passengers observing the glacier, of course, they could look down on the officers who appeared to be drinking tea, little did they realize it was a hot toddy to ward off the cool weather.
Stuart, please note l have not mentioned the incident of the Officer's Cap
During our conversation, we remembered our colleague Mike Smart, who had sailed with us on Princess ships and Stuart had subsequently worked with him in Saudi.
Mike went on to run a successful yacht charter business, sadly he passed away earlier this year.
My memory of Mike was during the River Padgant for the Queen’s Silver Jubilee. Being on leave at the time I was asked if l would like to join the P&O barge on the Thames.
Mike had organized the catering onboard, Greg Jackson and a couple of other assistant pursers joined us along with P&O office staff. The barge represented a cruise ship, the office staff were in their finery as passengers and we were in mess kit as the ship’s officers. My oh my what a very wet evening we were soaked to the skin by the time we disembarked at Greenwich pier, thoroughly sozzled.
Earlier I mentioned senior woman assistant purser on Oriana Gill Angrave . Last Christmas l had the great pleasure of meeting up with Gill for the first time since my ORIANA days.
Gill and I met last Christmas for the first time in almost 50 years.
Gill has written a great book about her time at sea and working in embassies around the world.
And Finally
Linda and I
New Year Island Princess 1974 45 Years Later
To complete the story of how the internet has reunited us from our early days on Oriana, just before the onset of Covid, fate had another surprise in store. I received a call from Linda (Lovelace) Tattershall, with whom I had also sailed on the Big O and Island Princess. Though now residing in Sydney, she was visiting the UK at the time. It was a delightful occasion as we met up and immersed ourselves in nostalgic conversations about our adventures aboard the ship and the memorable moments we shared on the dance floor.
The internet's power to bring people together
from across the globe truly made these reunions
very special.
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