"Big John" - My Obituary to John Lees by Jim Harrison

The following are my thoughts on "Big John", as I knew him and I would like them to be posted as my  personal obituary to John.

"Big John" in 1986 (Jim Harrison)

I was very sorry to hear of the death of John Lees, one of the Waverleys formidable characters, the world will be a lesser place for John not being in it.

I remember John  starting with WSN Co at the old Anderson Quay terminal in 1975  as part of a job creation scheme at that time. I grew up with John at my side and watching my every move - there was always the water and oil don't mix thing there, but that banter was part of the great Waverley aura, which gave the ship its character, but in turn, it was the people characters that made the ship. I sometimes felt that this man was there to make my life a misery, but I quickly realized that John was a mentor and taut me and many other young people that came through the Waverley, valuable lessons about being better persons, and how to work hard and get on with the job and life in general.

Many people never saw the true john Lees, they only saw the grumpy cigar smoking facade that so often was present on the engine room platform. I was privileged to have been on the receiving end of John's true personality. A kind and generous person, as was Sandra, they were both true people with a fantastic warmth. Tania, my wife,and I, were taken in by John & Sandra, when we had no place to live in 1985, and given a roof over our heads, we will always be for ever in their debt for that generosity, and their warmth. But over the years I somehow felt that I earned John's respect as a person,and as a sailor, possibly because of my voyages on "Westward Ho", but John gave me and many other youngsters a leg up on the journey through adolescence and on into adulthood.

I for one feel that the world has lost one of my Waverley mentor's that shaped my future. The world has lost one of life's true characters that you only come across once in a lifetime.

I too, like Stuart Mears, will be regailing my memories of "Big John" in the days and weeks to come, and once again john will no doubt put me through a mirriard of emotions, but mostly I'm sure I will be smiling and laughing.

The phrase that will stay with me for the rest of my days is "aye there's a good time coming son", as John would say to me on several occasions on our many pas sings during our days during the long winter months and during those long summer days at sea. And yes there is a good time comin.

Jim Harrison 

Tylorstown

March 2011

About Jim Harrison:-

"I became involved with Waverley in 1977 and worked on the ship through to 1989, working on Waverley & Balmoral starting off as a galley boy and then moving on to the deck as AB and taking command of "Westward HO" for the 80's -  I finished with Waverley in late 1989.
I spent much of my adolescent years working on the ship and being influenced by such characters as David Neill, John Lees, Kenny Blacklock, Steve Michelle, and Ken Angell to name but a few.
 So Waverley is very much ingrained in my make up and John helped shape my future, and I still look back on my "Waverley Years" with great fondness.
I hope that this gives you some of my background.
I feel that I, along with many of the above people did the groundwork for those now taking the Waverley & Balmoral into the 21st century."

Swanage Pier - HELP!!

Not strictly Scottish related but important to the continued operation of Waverley on the South Coast. Swanage Pier requires extensive works to remain operable. Our colleagues in the Wessex Branch have posted on their blog here. Please donate if you can.


Thanks

Gavin Stewart
Scottish Branch Chairman

John Lees - An Obituary

It was with great sadness that I learned this week that John Lees, Waverley’s’ Donkeyman of many years, passed away last week. John’s part in the story of the Waverley’s preservation era could fill a Dinosaur Down Below type book all by itself and I was lucky enough to work on the engine room when he was there.

He was a very big part of my early days on the ship. It would be fair to say that for me, gaining his approval on the ship, along with that of Ken Blacklock, as a “junior apprentice stoker’s mate 3^rd class”, was always the absolute pinnacle of achievement.

Whilst his public face on the ship was that of a gruff, no nonsense individual who did not suffer fools or nutters gladly, any one who knew him at all well very quickly came to realise that this was a fairly thin veneer indeed.

In writing this, if I were to try and come up with one word to some up John, it would be “kind”. Of course, I’m sure he would be horrified at such a dent in his image, but he always looked after us well, and if you put in the hours and the effort in the engine room then you got the nod of approval…quietly.

His knowledge of the workings of Waverley’s machinery was far greater than he would ever let on, but on many occasions, when it was all going wrong I’ve seen the engineer of the watch turn wide eyed with barely concealed panic to John and he would point them to some valve, or pipe or pump that would make everything ok. He was also perfectly adept at driving the three-legger, but only if he absolutely had too!  

Despite the sadness since hearing of his passing, I have found myself smiling a lot in the last couple of days as I’ve been remembering John and surely that is a measure of the man.

Some random memories:

On my first ever summer holiday spell of working in the engine room as I didn’t have any suitable gear with me on the first day such a boiler suit or safety boots, I went along only as a passenger. Word had obviously got around the ship as to my impending change of career. Most of my contemporaries seemed a bit in awe that I was going to give it a go in the engine room. However when I wandered up the port alleyway, John Lees and Kenny Angell wasted no time in hurling encouragement/intimidation/abuse in my direction. John exclaimed that must surely be off my head and Kenny just roared with laughter at my discomfort to the extent that he had to hang on to the golden levers to stop himself falling over.

John took great delight at blowing a good lungful of thick cigar smoke through the fan engine, in order to add a certain…something….to the air supply into the boiler room, to the outrage of the poor fireman down below.

He had an ability to stand at the step onto the engine room platform and chat to someone beside him in the alleyway but seemingly never take his eyes off “The Job”, talking to you, over his shoulder, so to speak.  

John would grab a quick breath of fresh air at the sponson door outside the souvenir shop, cigar firmly in position where, just by coincidence you understand, he could spend a wee bit of time chatting to his wife Sandra who was in the shop. If John was our mentor, Sandra was frequently our agony aunt. I only recently learned of her passing and I will miss her too.  They were a formidable team. 

I remember him single handedly carrying a full size bottle of oxygen from the gas axe set from the main deck, up to the paddle box steps, at speed,  to assist in the treatment of a passenger took gravely ill as we made our way up the Kyles of Bute one Saturday.

I rose to the dizzy heights of second engineer at one point for a week , and on my first day, the chief, Andy Steele handed over the watch to me and set off down the alleyway. From behind me came a deadpan voice, “Can ah get you a coffee then……..chief?” I turned to find John making his usual offer to the officer of the watch (me!) and Wee Davie beside him was scarcely able to contain his mirth that I was sailing as second!  It did seem completely surreal having sailed with these two characters so often, with me being “the boy”.

“Aye, thanks John, that’d be great.” I replied hoping that I had given the right response.

“Right then.” was all he said as he headed off for the mess room. But as he passed me on the control platform I got a wink. What relief! I was accepted, on some level at least. All this was okay somehow! Mind you I also got the feeling that with that wink he was also saying “Okay, but any airs and graces and you’re for it!”

I won’t say anything like “Finished With Engines” as he never let on that he had much time for all of that. Though “Finished with Engineers” would probably have got a laugh out of him!

John, you will be sadly missed; The Waveley has been and always will be a much poorer place without you.

"Smile John!! - Ah am smilin........."

Stuart Mears

Chairman's Blog No 14 - Winter is Upon Us! (in more ways than one)

On behalf of the Scottish Branch Commitee may I wish you all a Happy New Year! Lets hope that season 2011 is a good one.

Well winter is once again upon us - what do you mean I hear you cry - its been here for weeks!! The deep freeze set in earlier than last year with temperatures in Glasgow and the West of Scotland plummeting to below -10degC. The photos below show our paddler shivering at her snowy Glasgow Science Centre berth.

Another winter is also upon us - volunteer winter work parties commence on both Waverley and Balmoral on Saturday 15th January. This year - as with every year since the ships entered preserved operation - voluntary input vital to their ongoing operation. Remember formal skills are not required - just enthusiasm!

If you are interested in attending work parties on Waverley then just turn up at the ship from 10am onwards on the 15th and ask for the person in charge.  The only restriction is that you must be over 18 years of age.You will be required to give the ship's engineer contact details for H&S purposes and if you have safety shoes and a boiler suit that you dont mind using then please bring them along. You'll be pleased to hear that the ship is heated throughout the winter but additional layers of clothing may be an idea in case you are given an outdoor job.

Car parking is via the Glasgow Science Centre car park - tokens are available from the ship's engineer to allow you exit the car park. Waverley is located adjacent to the Science Centre tower (her berth is sometimes also referred to as Pacific Quay)

There are no catering facilities available on board during the winter but the microwave in the crew mess is available as is on tap hot water, tea & coffee. The only toilets operational are the crew toilets but not to worry you will be shown the ropes on arrival!!

The main thing is to enjoy yourself - theres a good bunch of up to twenty people attend over the winter so you'll be made very welcome -  that coupled with the fact that you can take satisfaction from the knowledge that you contributed to the ship's operation in 2011 make volunteer work parties a must.

Go to the Waverley Excursions Website for a blog entry about work parties.

Balmoral work parties take place in Bristol - see http://www.pswaverley.org/ for further details.

I'll sign off for now - leaving you with the forementioned snowy pictures!!

Gavin Stewart

Scottish Branch Chairman

Photo Copyright Joe McKendrick

Photo Copyright Joe McKendrick

Photo Copyright Joe McKendrick

Unterwalden Rebuild

As mentioned in the current winter issue of Paddle Wheels MPV Vevey has been withdrawn from service on Lake Geneva which leaves 5 operational paddle steamers on Lake Geneva. In 2011 there will once again be 5 operational paddle steamers on Lake Lucerne when Unterwalden re-enters service in the spring. Unterwalden last sailed in 2008 before entering a rebuild which has allowed her original boilers to be replaced in addition to restoring her external appearance more in keeping with the other paddlers of the fleet.

Of the 5 paddle steamers in the lake Lucerne fleet Unterwalden has had the most varied history. She was launched on 12^th November 1901 and entered service on the 18^th May 1902, she is the second oldest of the steamship fleet. It was in 1920 that she was fitted with a wheelhouse to protect the captains and helmsmen from the elements having had an open bridge when first built. On 30^th October 1923 while sailing through thick fog in darkness she ran aground at Beckenried suffering considerable damage. She also sustained damage in February 1956 when she crashed into the lake wall at Kehrsiten Dorf.

By 1960 her boilers required attention and were re-tubed this also providing the opportunity to remodel the ship to allow her to pass under the new Acheregg Bridge. The masts, funnel and wheelhouse were replaced allowing the masts to fold with the funnel and wheelhouse being able to be lowered as required. The rear upper deck was given an aluminium roof in place of the former canvas one.  By the mid 1970’s her condition was giving cause for concern with plans made for her withdrawal from service to form an exhibit at the Swiss Transport Museum. In 1976 a newly built motor vessel was named Unterwalden and the paddle steamer Unterwalden made her last trip on the 22^nd September 1977.  After a few years of laying in a poor condition a major rebuild began in 1982 lasting till 1985 when she was relaunched and the new motor vessel was renamed Europa.

By 2007 it was becoming clear that her original boilers had reached the end of their working lives and would have to be replaced. The current rebuild has replaced the two original boilers with one larger boiler. It has also allowed much of the superstructure and interiors to be restored to as much like their original pre-1961 state, as far as possible, while still allowing her to sail under the Acheregg Bridge.  The funnel, wheelhouse and masts will still be able to be lowered but the appearance of the funnel in particular will be more like the other members of the steamer fleet.

There will be a special parade of all 5 paddle steamers to mark the re-entry into service of Unterwalden on Saturday 14^th May with a provisional departure time of 11:30 returning to Lucerne at 15:30.

The following pictures show Unterwalden prior to her rebuild. I have included a few interior pictures to allow some comparison to be made after she re-enters service. The first class saloon should be impressive as the neo-rococo carving is also being restored in addition to the parquet flooring.

Dressed overall during the 2008 steamer parade to celebrate 80 years of Stadt Luzern.

This shot shows the 1961 fitted wheelhouse and funnel. (April 2008)

At Alpnachstad in August 2004, note that one of the masts is left down for the return sailing.

The first class saloon looking forward.

First class saloon looking aft.

Looking forward into the second class saloon from the engine. As part of the rebuild a retractable bulkhead will be installed to once again separate the saloon from the engine area.

The upper deck dining area as it was in 2008.

An early season shot from 2008, note the snow on Pilatus.



Paul Semple

Inglis Shipyard becomes the Riverside Museum



As 2010 enters its final fortnight we reflect that next year will see the opening of the new £80m Riverside Museum (of Transport and maritime heritage) on Pointhouse Quay at the confluence of the Rivers Clyde and Kelvin. The titanium and glass clad museum building occupies the site of a famous Glasgow shipyard, the Pointhouse yard, opened in 1863 by the brothers Anthony and John Inglis, who had peviously built marine engines and other engineering products at their works in Warroch Street, off Anderston Quay. Inglis shipyard at Pointhouse was in production for almost exactly a century,during which time the firm produced about 500 ships of a range in size and type that would, undoubtedly, surprise the huge number of international tourists that will visit the Riverside Museum in the next few years. They were, of course, well known as builders of paddle steamers including Waverley and Maid of the Loch, two of the few remaining Clyde-built ships of this type. However, Inglis paddle steamers could be found much further afield than the home market - they featured in the fleets of the Bay Steamers company of Melbourne, South Australia, the earltest Yangtse-river steamers of Swire's China Navigation Company and, prominently, in the fleets of Nicolas Mihanovich and the Entre Rios Railway companies on the River Plate between Buenos Aires and Montevideo and further into the interior of the South American continent. The Mihanovich paddlers were significantly larger than their Clyde counterparts and the Entre Rios ships were built as train ferries rather than passenger boats.

Other passenger ships produced by Inglis included around 50 small ocean going liners for the British India Steam Navigation Company, founded by Campbeltown-born Sir William MacKinnon, the largest shipping company in the world for a period prior to its merger with the Peninsula & Oriental Steam Navigation Company (P&O). Inglis first contribution to the Royal Navy was the destroyer HMS Fury in 1912 and, thereafter, they built numerous corvettes, frigates and patrol boats at Pointhouse. Arguably the most surprising of Inglis' contribution to the total of 26,000 plus ships built on Clydeside was their two Royal Yachts, the Safa-el-Bahr for the Kedive of Egypt and HMY Alexandra for the British Admiralty during the reign of HM King Edward VII. She finished her career as the coastal steamer Prins Olav on the famous Hurtigruten service in Norway. Ingis produced two ships in 1947 (any many unnamed barges), one being the vessel that has become well known as the world's last seagoing paddle steamer since 1971 and the other being the largest ship ever built in the Pointhouse shipyard, under subcontract from the Scotts Shipbuilding & Engineering Company of Greenock, the China Navigation Company's Soochow.

The picture above depicts Inglis' shipyard from the bridge over the River Kelvin in 1946. Nearest the camera is the Clyde paddle steamer Jeanie Deans (originally built at Fairfields on the opposite bank of the Clyde in Govan in 1931) undergoing a significant rebuild after over six years service in the Royal Navy as HMS Jeanie Deans during WW2. The vessel immediately astern of her and the vessel under construction in the yard are two of the four tankers, Empire Tedport, Empire Tedship, Empire Tedmuir and Empire Tedrita, built by Inglis in 1946-47. Finally, still in her austere wartime livery is the paddler HMS Aristocrat, then recently arrived after demob from the Royal Navy and ready to be converted back into her civilian role as the Clyde-based paddler Talisman. She was an Inglis product in 1935 when she broke new ground as the Clyde's first and, as it turned out, only diesel electric paddle vessel.

The high cranes in the background are those at the Govan shipyard of the huge Harland & Wolff shipbuilding group, of which the Inglis company had been a subsidiary since 1917. Although best known for their base at Queens Island in Belfast, from the 1920s to the 1960s Harland & Wolff's presence on the Clyde was almost as large as that on the Lagan. It Included 6 shipyards, the Finnieston (Steam) Engine Works at Anderston Quay, the Scotstoun (Diesel) Engine Works and the huge Clyde Foundry, one of the largest in Europe, in Helen Street Govan, which produced massive castings such as engine cylinder blocks, stern posts and rudder horns, etc.

Stuart Cameron

End of an Old Season - Beginnings of the New Season!

The last passengers of the season stream off Waverley at Glasgow Science Centre as the 2010 season came to an end on Sunday 17th October.
Great to see the "early buds" of the new season in 2011 already peeping through the WEL website - click on the moving banner above for further details.
12 days in the Western Isles makes a welcome return in 2011 - and hopefully all this horrible snow will be away by then!!


 Charles McCrossan

Down to See the Engines

I reckon this Waverley video dates from circa 1990. It has been split into 5 parts for loading up to YouTube. Links to all five parts are given below although you can also navigate between them if you go onto the YouTube site. Its amazing to think that 2 decades  have passed since this film was made so there are a number of well known faces (then) including Captain Jimmy Addison, engineers George Beveridge, Jimmy Graham . Also brief shots of former donkeyman John Lees, 'Wee Davie' Muir, deckie the late Donald (Angus) McKinnon, 'new' purser Jim McFadzean and Ken Henderson, in apprenticeship days, who subsequently became Chief Engineer. Most of the film is set in the engineroom (as the title would suggest, or perhaps it wouldn't if you know the 'lore' behind that expression) but there is some nice, if brief, on deck shots at the start. For some of us 1990 seems relatively recent in the Waverley story - until we realise its now 20 years ago. So its a bit of a nostalgia trip for us oldies but, even if you've only come to know Waverley in relatively recent times, I hope that you will find something of interest in this fine film and historical record. Sadly, I don't know who made the film but all credit is due to them. So, 'Cedarcam', many thanks for these wonderful memories

Part 1

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Lho3CsT5aY&feature=related

Part 2

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a_Hjt6w0RPQ&feature=related

Part 3

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dhBdUuOPlvQ&feature=related

Part 4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4agBZ2hN2Bc&feature=related

and Part 5

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yq7sEceM6Ec&feature=related


Additionally, and especially for the Branch Chairman, in Part 4 there is a close up of the port-side steam-engine driven Howden FD fan. which resided on the platform at main deck level at the forward end of the engineroom. Originally, the ship was fitted with a double-ended Scotch Boiler, built by the enginebuilder, Rankin & Blackmore, at their Eagle Foundry in Baker Street, Greenock. The boiler had six furnaces (3 at each end) originally each being fitted with firebars in a grate for coal firing. The boiler draught (air flow) containing the oxygen for oxidation (burning) of the carbon and hydrogen in the coal was maintained by creating a relatively steady pressure differential between the boileroom and the flue exit at the top of the funnesl both of which were for creation of boiler draught in those days (the separation of Waverley's funnels are typical of that required for the ubiquitous Scotch boiler). As a safety measure, to reduce the chance of blow-back of combustion products from the furnaces, the area around the boiler firing positions was maintained at a pressure higher than the ambient air pressure. Effectively there was a sealed chamber around the lower half and the twin steam engined forced draught (FD) fans blew air from the engineroom into boilerroom through two openings in the bulkhead that separates the two compartments. To prevent dipping the pressure in the boilerroom stokehold twin-door air locks were needed for access and egress of the boilerroom. The systems was well known as 'Forced Draught on a Closed Stokehold'. One of the pioneers of this innovative improvement in the firing performance of boilers was the Glasgow engineer James Howden who was working in the industry from the 1850s onwards. Originally building marine engines and boilers to supply the large and rapidly expanding Clyde shipbuilding industry, Howden was a very original-thinking innovative engineer, proposing several improvements that fate has subsequently credited to others. The Howden company established a large manufacturing works in Scotland Street, Glasgow, adjacent to the site subsequently occupied by Charles Rennie Mackintosh's renowned Scotland Street School (now the Glasgow Museum of Education.

Former Howden Design Offices and Manufacturing Works

8-18 Scotland Street, Glasgow.

This part of the works still exists but it has been under threat of demolition for redevelopment recently,  The Scottish Industrial Heritage Trust has an alternative plan to save the premises and develop it as a working Museum dedicated to industrial heritage

While maintaining a general engineering facility Howden's specialised in air (and gas) moving  equipment (fans, blowers and compressors) and associated airheaters, which play a crucial role in optimising the efficiency of steam-based utility systems. In this work Howden's formed a strong and long lasting association with the innovative Swedish engineer Ljungstrom. Over the years Howden's have absorbed many of their competitors, one notable example being the famous Sirrocco Works of Belfast-based fanmaker Samuel Davidson & Co where Howden fans are now built. On closurre of the Scotland Street works Howden moved their base to Old Renfrew Road in Refrew, close to the Braehead shopping complex. It was in these Renfrew Works that Howden built the large tunnelling machines for the  Channel Tunnel project.

The starboard side Howden fan was removed from Waverley when the Scotch Boiler was removed from the vessel in March 1981. The new Babcock Steambloc boiler that replaced it had twin furnaces fitted with oil burners, supplied by combustion specialists Saake, that had their own integral FD fans. However the port-side Howden fan was retained to assist in maintaining adequate ventilation of the boilerroom, The fan was removed during the second reboilering in 2000.




A Howden development for the Scotch boiler but, unlike the one that used to be on Waverley, it has an air jacket to improve the overall efficiency of the unit and a superheater / desuperheater for control of final steam temperature. The unit  is also a single ended Scotch boiler like those on SS Shieldhall

 

Stuart Cameron

MV Balmoral - People's Millions Grant 2010 UPDATE.

It gives me great pleasure to inform you all that Balmoral was successful and has won the £50,000 grant towards the refurbishment of her Britannia Lounge.

Congratulations to all involved!!!

Gavin Stewart
Scottish Branch Chairman

Waverley Summer 2010

Gerry Ward's video of Waverley during Summer 2010. Great shots pity the weather was not more 'summery'