8 legger:
My Grandad did quite a bit of work for ML in the 60-70’s. Would any of you have any photos from that time?
Aye Did a bit myself found This picc Think It has been On B4 not sure? Cheers Chris
after a bike ride and a trip down memory lane for my mate, i am hoping to find some old photos and information on manchester liners. did anyone used to load regular from manchester, anyone have a picture of the furness withey building (which were guessing doesnt stand anymore?)
anyone got anything, i would love to see them!!
Hullo euromat,
The Furness Withy building in Manchester is still there, but you wouldnt know it now. I went past it a few years ago and its changed out of all recognition, its now a very smart block of appartments. I was never on any of the Manchester Liners, but I was on quite a few Furness Withy ships and Prince Line as well, they were all part of the Furness Group and were really good to work for. Sorry but after all this time I dont think that I`ve any pictures at all. But thanks for jogging my memory.
Cheers, Archie.
Archie Paice:
Hullo euromat,
The Furness Withy building in Manchester is still there, but you wouldnt know it now. I went past it a few years ago and its changed out of all recognition, its now a very smart block of appartments. I was never on any of the Manchester Liners, but I was on quite a few Furness Withy ships and Prince Line as well, they were all part of the Furness Group and were really good to work for. Sorry but after all this time I dont think that I`ve any pictures at all. But thanks for jogging my memory.
Cheers, Archie.
ah so thats why my mate couldnt spot the building, i took some pictures of the area today, would be great if someone has any to have a compare with what it used to look like
Goodways did a lot of Manchester Liners work,mostly half-heights,and we used to lift on quite a few from S.Jones in Aldridge as backloads.
Goodways also had a truck,if not several,in Furness Withy livery,one was a Scania P112 tag-axle driven by Colin ‘Tick-Tock’ Pipe,the others were F7 Volvo’s on FW charter.
Manchester Liners I believe were absorbed into the OOCL group along with Dart-Line.
Unfortunately I don’t have any pics of the Furness Withy,but I reckon a certain Mr.Waspe might have 
and i bet you can guess who was my tour guide around the area keith!!
a few pictures of the area how it looks today, taken from the imperial war museum
I remember as a kid (forgive the pun) my dad doing a lot of ML work when he drove for Machins.
euromat:
That’ll be diggles diner then 
I enjoyed seeing those photo’s Euromat, especially the 5th one 
.
Foden 46 sent me this one of Manchester Docks which he took in 1990, those cranes were demolished the following month by dropping them onto 1000’s of old tyres.
Archie do you know if The Clan Macintosh was based in Manchester or where The Clan Line ships were based ?
Regards Steve.
mushroomman:
I enjoyed seeing those photo’s Euromat, especially the 5th oneFoden 46
Archie do you know if The Clan Macintosh was based in Manchester or where The Clan Line ships were based ?
Regards Steve.
Hullo Steve,
Thanks for your message mate. The Furness Withy Group (Furness Line, Clan Line Steamers and Prince Line Steamers ) were all London Registered. Funny though, that you should mention the Clan MacIntosh, how on earth did you pick that one I wonder ? When I was with the company that was my first ship as Purser / Chief Steward. If you were around in those days, I may have had a drink with you in the Trafford Park or the Clews.
Cheers, Archie.
try this link.rmhh.co.uk/mliners.html
Goaty:
I remember as a kid (forgive the pun) my dad doing a lot of ML work when he drove for Machins.That’ll be diggles diner then
the signs were still about for the diner, is it still open? (didnt look like it was but we were only biking past…)
Hi Archie, to cut a long story short 
, I ended up in a bit of trouble in Angola in September 1975 ( no I wasn’t in the S.A.S. ). The Clan Macintosh was waiting to load in Lobito when the Unita rebels who were in the docks started shooting at the F.N.L.Army, who were shooting at them from the oil refinary 
across from the docks. The captain let me and the three English guys who I was with on board and lifted up the gang plank. A couple of bullets whizzed by and hit one of the derricks so the captain decided to pull out in to the bay away from the dock. The day after, the engineer found one of the bullet’s and said that he was going to put it in a glass case behind the bar.
Do you know if he did that or did you ever see it ? There were a couple of the crew from Manchester and I remember that one of them was from Moston. I.I.R.C. some of the crew were from Indian or Bangladesh and the cook made a brilliant curry.
We refused the captains offer to take us back to the U.K. as he was waiting for orders to pick up refugees and three weeks after this incident Foden 46 was driving through Trafford Park and noticed The Clan Macintosh moored up, strange but true.
Regards Steve.
diggles diner is still open i think when was you up here then ■■
mushroomman:
Hi Archie, to cut a long story short
Do you know if he did that or did you ever see it ? There were a couple of the crew from Manchester and I remember that one of them was from Moston. I.I.R.C. some of the crew were from Indian or Bangladesh and the cook made a brilliant curry.
We refused the captains offer to take us back to the U.K. as he was waiting for orders to pick up refugees and three weeks after this incident Foden 46 was driving through Trafford Park and noticed The Clan Macintosh moored up, strange but true.
Regards Steve.
Hullo Steve,
Wow! what a small world we all live in eh? Lobito and Luanda those were the two Angolan ports that we stopped in on our way to South Africa each trip, then Mauritius and then of course across the Indian Ocean To India and Pakistan. The crews that we had were all either Pakistani, ( Bangladesh ) or Indian. But laterly on two of the Clan Line ships, where they had the normal Catering staff of Durban Indians, and again Indians or Bangladeshes on deck, these two ships instead of an Indian crew they enlisted Zulus. I only ever worked with the Zulu Catering staff on the Clan Ranald on a four week coastal trip, London, Antwerp, Rotterdam, Middlesbrough and back to London, but they were really fantastic to work with, far more happy and far easier to get to work. I think your little escapade must have been a little bit after my time with the company, as I left them in 1967 or 68, I´ll need to look at my old discharge book to find out exactly when. I remember the Captain on the Clan MacIntosh while I was there was a Harry Freestone, from Pagham in East Sussex. The couple of Mancunians you mention were I would say Engineers. The Radio Officer was a lad called Noel Patric Sherin, (R.I.P ) a real Southern Irish Pshd and was a real good friend of mine. All long ago now. But it was good to know that you were well treated whilst you were on board
Cheers, Archie.
Hi Archie, yes the crew treated us really, really well, they knew that we were very low on money and told us that guests to the bar were not allowed to buy a round, we offered, but there was no shortage of people saying put it on my account.
I knew that I had some photo’s somewhere and I have eventually found them, not sure if the Clan MacIntosh is the first one or the second one but I am sure that you will know.
I dont want to pirate Euromat’s thread so I have sent you a P.M. with another six photos from Lobito and I asked Marcus The Bubbleman ( he’s in the barrel next ) if I can re-show a couple of his old photos from his treasure chest of Scrapbook Memories.
So for Euromat and anybody else who missed these two the first time around, I hope that you enjoy them.
Regards Steve.
Archie Paice:
on the Clan Ranald on a four week coastal trip, London, Antwerp, Rotterdam, Middlesbrough and back to London
bloody hell archie - they should’ve got some more coal on her 
great to read the reminisences on here
Archie Paice:
[ The Furness Withy Group (Furness Line, Clan Line Steamers and Prince Line Steamers ) were all London Registered. .
And don’t forget the South American Saint Line, also Furness Withy. I had to go to there head office in St. Mary Axe in London for the interview. My first ship was the St. John back in '65 and a better ship you couldn’t wish to sail in. Despite the segregation common in those days we all got on well together, white officers, white deck gang, black engine room and yellow galley.
Spardo:
Archie Paice:
[ The Furness Withy Group (Furness Line, Clan Line Steamers and Prince Line Steamers ) were all London Registered. .And don’t forget the South American Saint Line, also Furness Withy. I had to go to there head office in St. Mary Axe in London for the interview. My first ship was the St. John back in '65 and a better ship you couldn’t wish to sail in. Despite the segregation common in those days we all got on well together, white officers, white deck gang, black engine room and yellow galley.
Hullo Spardo,
Yes of course you are completely correct, I forgot about the South American Saint Line, and Johnston and Warren and of course The Bowater Shipping Company. I did a trip on the Elizabeth Bowater as Purser/Catering Oficer, down to Charleston SC, in 1966. I think you possibly did the last voyage on the St. John, did`nt she get sold in 1966 or 1967 ?
Archie Paice:
[ I think you possibly did the last voyage on the St. John, did`nt she get sold in 1966 or 1967 ?
Not the last one, each trip was around 3 months and I did just the two. I was anxious for variety. My next ship was the Queen Mary, boy, was that a shock to the system? I do think they were wound up around that time though, there were only two others in the fleet when I was there. Nice ships. 
Oh, and just to get the thread back on track (not that a heading of Manchester Liners is off track talking about the company ) I used to haul a lot of their containers for Midlands Storage back in the late 60s and 70s, carrying Raleigh bikes from Nottingham.