Hogan plus Vowles

When I was sixteen, back in the 1950’s,I was signed on as an apprentice lad on tramp ships [like the vessel pictured here] sailing out of Cardiff. We would go round the world on voyages up to two years in length. During one trip we loaded a cargo of grain (wheat) in the USA for India. We arrived off the port of Mumbai, although in those days it was known as Bombay and the Gateway to India. We had to drop anchor to wait for a berth. It was [ and still is] a very busy port. As soon as the port authorities had given us free pratique (declared a healthy ship) out came the bumboats to lie alongside the gangway. Now a bumboat is a small boat or launch that carries all the tradepeople and their goods that want to do business with ship’s crew. There were tailors, barbers, dhobi wallahs (laundry men), ghilly-ghilly men (conjurers, fortune tellers, and magicians), and so on. There was also a Snake Charmer dressed in loincloth, turban, and equipped with the bulbous flute and a fairly large round ...

An obituary is a celebration of a life not a sad reflection - we remember all the things, mostly good, that made that life and sometimes say a prayer but mostly smile. This blog is in memory of Ulf Larsson, Boatswain, and others like him who sailed out on British, Scandinavian, and other European ships following the Second World War. They were real sailor men - "every hair spun yarn and every finger a marlin spike." I met Ulf Larsson in September 1955 as we signed on the tramp ship "Fresno City" in Rotterdam. When I say 'we' I mean John Hopkins [then known as Hoppy], Titch Redcliffe, Fagy Vanner, and myself then known as Ginger Hogan. Apprentice lads aged 16 and 17 years. [It was a memorable year because I had met Tina that summer and we had fallen in love.] The crew on the ship were from Cardiff, a tough town, and they were a motley bunch so inevitably it required a knowledgeable bosun and the burden often fell on us young men - you grew up quickly. Ulf Lar...

Tina and I were talking on Saturday - we are very comfortable in each others' company and talk on every subject under the sun - obviously children and the family, we love them all dearly, and the past. It being Saturday we touched upon rugby, we both enjoy the rugby on the weekend, particularly the Six Nations series. I then remembered that Tina had mentioned that Grandma had watched the All Blacks play and we tried to work out when and where she had this unique experience. I pulled out a book Gerard had given me as a birthday present when he was a boy - the History of Rugby up to 1976 - and looked at the All Blacks Tours and there it was 1905 Tour. This was the second tour ever of New Zealand, the first as the All Blacks. They played the Midlands Counties in Leicester on 28th October 1905 and beat them 21 - 05 - this is picture below was taken at that match. Attending that match was a 21 years old young lady called Mabel Moore and her older brother, Will. This was Tina's ma...

I was prompted to ponder that question the other night when watching RTE [Irish] television that reported that Gay Byrne had received a life-time achievement award for his significant contribution to broadcasting on his Late Late Show. It takes some bottle to go through public life with that name, the Gay bit I mean, but then in Ireland the name Gay is a common abbreviation for the christian name Gabriel and anyway such is Gay Byrne's standing and brilliance he would have coped with any name. Sometimes names are both memorable and totally contradictory - take the name Christmas Humphreys - that's a name to conjure with! It is the name of a famous and controversial barrister and later High Court Judge in the 40's and 50's. I believe he was the Prosecuting Counsel in the Ruth Ellis case, the last woman to be hung in England, and was involved in the Bentley trial which also gained the death penalty. Wait for it - he was a Buddhist! you could no invent a...

Every month we have the greatest pleasure of getting comics for Grace and Jack in Canada. Grace really enjoys the "Fairies" comic as shown above - lovely stories for her and, as Jack gets older, he enjoys his one more and more. Tina has particularly fond memories of comics as a child. Wednesday mornings, when Tina 9+, the newspaper delivery came with two comics -"Girl" and "School Friend" - and there was a rush to get washed and dressed for school and work so that they could read the comics before setting out! Her Dad would have "School Friend" first one week and then "Girl" the next time. They both wanted to get the updates on the key stories. [By the way, the picture top left is Tina with her Dad about this time.] Then, when they had both departed to school and the office, Mum would clear the breakfast table, make a fresh pot of tea and sit down for a while and read both comics in peace. On reflection can you honestl...