12th January 2011 – Members Night – Clyde Favourites – Past & Present :- Co-ordinated by Elsie Hinshalwood
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At the start of the evening, a short tribute was paid to Tom Dunn who had recently passed away. Tom was known to many Club members through his great love of, and involvement with, steamers and ships on the Clyde and particularly in his professional career as a Naval Architect. He was Superintendent of Barnard’s Court Mission, Greenock, for 30 years. In 2001, Tom started using his maritime skills to help The Vine Trust provide medical ships for remote communities along the Amazon. |
In her usual efficient manner, Elsie co-ordinated another excellent Members Night. Despite the uncertainty and apprehension which seem to automatically go with the job of co-ordinating a selection of presentations from members, we were treated to a diverse, but very entertaining, series of presentations from eight members, including some who had never presented to the Club before. This is a great way to start presenting to the Club and all members are encouraged to “give it a try” at the next opportunity.
Presenters and their subject are listed below:
| Eric Schofield | 1963 to this year | ||
| Roy Paterson | Photographs in motion | ||
| Alistair Young | Clyde Steamers in the ‘20s and ‘30s | ||
| Alex Forrest | The Last Ship at Fergusons | ||
| Peter Stafford | Their Twilight Years | ||
| Terry Primrose | Steamers from the ‘50s and Liners – how they evolved in the 90’s | ||
| Andrew Anderson | Clyde Steamers | ||
| John Newth | A Favourite Pier |
All presentations were supported by a fine selection of images, some old, some rare, some obtained by pure chance and some from friends and relatives who were seeking to dispose of what we at the Club think of as extremely interesting material. What better place for it than to share with like minded enthusiasts. We were given a very “behind the scenes” view of a Calmac vessel being built up from the pile of steel plates in the yard to launch day – and even on that day, it showed clearly how the public image/ view from the outside was significantly different from the internal state of the ship!
One presentation gave us an insight into what can be done with technology these days: about 20 secs had passed moving around Largs pier before I realised that we were in fact looking at a single slide and there was still about 15 secs to follow! A very interesting demonstration.
This members night was the first to have the majority of presentations in digital format but there was still a place for slides to be projected by several members and it’s important to emphasise that this facility will remain within the Club, for the foreseeable future.
Two images from the night are below – click to enlarge.
