Dear Member,  
At the time of writing this, mid January, snow lies on the ground, deep and crisp and far from even. A friend sent me the photo alongside. At the very least it should make our active members grateful that they were not attending to agencies in such conditions. The photo was allegedly taken in Cardiff, but I don’t think so, the surroundings are not familiar. If you can identify the area we’d be delighted to hear from you. Thanks.

A HEART WARMING STORY

Two young people thrown together by fate — he was a 20-year-old officer heading off to fight in the Middle East, she was an 18-year-old girl on her way to a new life in what was then Rhodesia. They had met on board a steamer on the voyage from London, fallen in love and then gone their separate ways, knowing that they would probably never see each other again.

The only memento that Mr Pettinger had was the telegram she sent him shortly after they parted. “All my love. Best of luck, Dorothy.”

For more than half a century they spent their lives thousands of miles apart, he in England, she (now Mrs Crombie) in Zimbabwe. But as fate drew them together on the liner RMS Ceramic, they have now been reunited — thanks to a letter in The Times.

Last November Mr Pettinger went to the Field of Remembrance at Westminster Abbey with his son, Martin. Twice he took a cab that day, and twice the drivers refused to take money from an old soldier with so many medals. One of them said that he owed Mr Pettinger more than any fare. Martin Pettinger described their kindness in a letter to The Times, which was reprinted in The Week.

Five thousand miles away in Zimbabwe, an elderly widow picked up a copy of The Week, saw the letter and noticed Martin Pettinger’s name at the bottom. “The name just came up and hit me,” Mrs Crombie, now 87, said. “I thought, ‘This has got to be his son’.”

Although she had made her own life in Zimbabwe — she married a pilot, and had three children — she had never forgotten Mr Pettinger. “I often wondered how he was doing,” she said. “Every now and then something would happen — an old tune you heard on the boat would be played and you would go back to the old Ceramic days. The big one was Blue Moon — that was our tune.”

Their meeting had been a dramatic one. Mrs Crombie, who was on her way to live with an uncle, was sharing a cabin with her sister and a young mother with a son. “My sister was seasick and this other woman, who was nearest the door, was in a bad way, too.

 A drunken sailor burst into our cabin and tried to get into bed with her.

“I knew there were a couple of strapping Army officers in the cabin opposite, so I banged on their door and said, ‘Can you help?’ Harold came bursting out and dispatched the fellow forthwith.”

It was the first time that they had talked, but from there, the relationship blossomed. “He was quite a dashing young fellow,” Mrs Crombie said.

“She was a nice girl,” said Mr Pettinger, who was a second lieutenant with the York and Lancaster Regiment. “I always liked blondes. She was always smiling. She was a lovely girl. Who could not be attracted?”

Small memories survive: playing bridge and housey-housey on board, going up Table Mountain, having dinner together at an hotel in Cape Town.

Then, their parting. “I was a miserable heap,” Mrs Crombie said. “That is why I sent him a telegram from Kimberley — I was on my way up to Rhodesia at that stage. When the war was on, everything was so uncertain. We did keep in touch. I think that we imagined that we might see each other again after the war.”

“I was very sorry,” Mr Pettinger, now 89, said. “But you had to be practical. I was on the way to the Middle East. There was nothing I could do. I just had to say a fond farewell, hoping I could see her again but knowing that it was pretty remote.”

They kept in touch for a while. But Mrs Crombie stayed in Rhodesia, while Mr Pettinger, who won the Military Cross at Tobruk, returned to England, married, and spent his career working for Otis, the lift company.

Two lives went by. Then, the letter in The Times. Mrs Crombie tried to track down Martin Pettinger, but failed. This year she took advantage of the Government’s repatriation scheme to live near East Grinstead in West Sussex, to be near her son. She made another attempt to track down Martin Pettinger, this time successfully. “I wanted to phone Harold,” Mrs Crombie said. “But Martin said he had to phone him first. He said, ‘He’s going to have a heart attack’.”

After discovering that Mr Pettinger was living only 33 miles away, in Cobham in Surrey, they met a fortnight ago. They met at 10am and did not stop talking until Mrs Crombie left at 7pm. “I was delighted,” said Mr Pettinger, whose wife died 21 years ago. “But, if we passed in the street, neither of us would have known each other.”

“I was amazed that it was quite comfortable from the word go,” said Mrs Crombie. “It did not take long to get back to where we were.”

And, yes, now what? “We are getting a bit ancient,” said Mrs Crombie. “We are just enjoying what is left. It is nice just to coast along and see each other from time to time.”

“Take it steady, old chap,” Mr Pettinger said. “There’s not much life left in this old dog.” But somehow there seems to be a bit more than there was before Mrs Crombie turned up again.

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DOCKS COMPANY OF PALS

As most of you are aware, particularly the South Wales members, there is a close connection between the DCOP and the Cardiff section of the ICS. Many of the ‘PALS’ are ICS members including the current President, John Bolt and the Hon. Secretary John Iles. The President recently discovered an archive in the form of a menu for the 1927 DCOP annual dinner, which former Cardiff Port Manager, Brian Harding, thought quite rightly, that I would like for inclusion in this newsletter; so here it is. Many of you will note the frequent references to various types of Welsh coal.

It seemed reasonable to try and do some research into this ‘ancient’ document, well it is 93 years old this March. Neither of the John’s, Bolt or Iles had any records relating to it so, I contacted Dr. David Jenkins, Senior Curator, National Waterfront Museum at Swansea who willingly came to my house and discussed the document with me...

The following are some of his thoughts:

On p.1 there is a reference ‘You cannot worship God and Cymaman’. There were a number of collieries across the S. Wales coalfield that bore the name ‘Cwmam(m)an..

On the menu page.

Crème Vol(at)aille – the volatility of coal was an important measure of its quality.. ( fuel.)
Amman eggs – eggs were small ovoids of patent
Boiled Tirherbert – Treherbert Colliery??
Pulled Leg of Lambert – Lambert Brothers were major coal exporters & shipping & bunkering agents.
Washed Duff – duff was coal dust, used to make patent fuel..
Powell Duff – Powell Duffryn, major colliery owners.
Toast (underdone) List- Hansen is as Hansen was- Possible reference to the Cardiff-Norwegian shipowner Sir Sven Hansen who hugely over-reached himself during the post WW1 boom. He had collieries in Tredegar and even a shipyard in Bideford as well as a substantial fleet. The whole venture crashed spectacularly in 1923/24. Britons never, never will be Jugo-Slavs – possible reference to flagging out ships to Yugoslav flag which some owners did in the inter-war years having set up Yugoslavian ‘brass plate’ firms.
Larry Gibson – a director of Frazer’s Ship Store Merchants and related to George ‘Cock’ Gibson, Lord Glanely’s nephew??
Sgt-Major Bartlett- Commissionaire of the Coal Exchange, with a stentorian voice. Woe betide any office boy who strayed onto the Floor of the Exchange looking for his boss, he had to contact the Sgt-Major to do that for him. He retired in the early ‘50’s when the Exchange closed as a Trading floor.
Eph Street- probably refers to R.G.M. Street who was the power behind the shipwners South American Saint Line. He would have been 26 or 27 by this date.
Extracts from Haeslop’s - A Gerry Heslop is mentioned on p.37 in Desmond Williams’s book ‘70 years in Shipping’ . Gerry Heslop was also a director of Braithwaite & Heslop who were shippers to Portugal and originally represented the Portuguese agents through whom Jack, himself, eventually sold substantial quantities of British coal and coke.
Oswald Tirdonkin – Possibly another colliery name.
P.4. Last Line – Cif Quotations by Poxey, Savon. A skit on Moxey, Savon & Co., perhaps, another major UK coal exporter

I have also had a letter from retired Fellow of the Institute, Jack Spackman, who will not thank me for saying that his knowledge of the South Wales coal trade is so vast that he should be called ‘King Coal’. I sent a copy of the 1927 Menu to Jack who has added some comments. – Page 2 - ASH not exceeding 5% - a typical guarantee for sales at that time.. VOLATILE – The gaseous content of coal determining how fast it burns and its end use, i.e. steam raising, making coke for blast furnaces or town gas before North Sea.
Washed Duff was the fine coal remaining from coal washing(to remove ash and stone) and eventually a big seller to France and Scandinavia.

I think that is enough on the DCOP 1927 dinner. I’m beginning to feel and sound like one of those TV historians. My thanks to both Dr. David Jenkins and Jack Spackman for all their input on this fascinating subject where we have only barely scratched the surface and which many of our younger members, students and a number of those from the south side of the Bristol Channel will have no idea of the impact coal had on the South Wales Ports. Those who would like to learn more should apply to the Cardiff Library for the paper on ‘The Rise & Fall of the South Wales Coal Trade which Richard Parker of Bay Shipping completed to gain his Fellowship.

You will find the menu itself reproduced below. I apologize for the reproduction but the ‘original’ copy I had to work with was not that great.

SICK LIST

I have another refreshing story to relate. In the last issue I mentioned that George Phillips, a former principal director of Bellamy’s of Plymouth was unwell and was in a nursing home. I suggested that any of his former friends/colleagues might like to visit him. Alan Humphries from Exmouth and John Slater from Starcross, Exeter did just that and spent a pleasant hour and a half with George, who came to life and chatted happily with his two friends about old times. He has a pleasant room in the Torr Home with a partial view of Plymouth Sound and is being well looked after. Ken Brown soldiers on with not a lot of change in his condition. He attends DCOP occasionally and would always welcome a ‘phone call from old friends and colleagues. Jack Spackman says he is holding his own and as you see in the last item has given me some info on the 1927 menu. I know of no others who are unwell or in need a visit. If you do, please tell me.

DATES FOR YOUR DIARY

Wednesday 31st March - 2,30pm. Branch Committee Meeting. Graig’s office, 1,Caspian Point, Caspian Way, Cardiff Bay, CF10 4DQ

Friday 16th April 6.30 pm for 7.30 pm BRANCH ANNUAL DINNER, HOLLAND HOUSE HOTEL, NEWPORT Road, Cardiff.
Accommodation available £100 single, £120 Double, also at Park Inn Hotel, Cardiff ,Single £95, Double £101. Please book provisionally through me.

MEMBERSHIP

I recently had a request from London to chase up a dozen or so members who had not paid their 2009/10 subscription.. When I contacted them, or in some cases, tried to contact them, the task proved more difficult than it first seemed. Two I had never heard of; four had retired from business and severed their contacts with the profession; three I contacted and the outstanding sub was an oversight; two I am still trying to contact and the last has moved to a new job in Europe. Doubtless an invoice sent to his new email address will produce the desired subscription.

All this bother could be avoided if members would remember, when they change their address, or their employer, or even when they retire, to let the Branch Secretary know. In some cases the employer does not help. In the case of the member relocated in Europe, he has been there for 2 years, I have been sending mail at intervals to his old address, but no one thought to tell me he had moved on and his new address was so and so.

The membership database held in London used to be in a mess but since the Director appointed Duncan Judd to the position of Membership Officer it has improved tremendously.

So, if you are in the SWW area and you change employer, change your address where you have mail sent or retire – P L E A S E- let me know.

 

 

 

By the time you read this our students will have nearly completed their studies for the 2010 exams. We wish them every success and trust that when the results are announced in August we have at least one or two qualified for membership. This year, one SWW Branch student who gains the highest pass marks in the 2009 examinations, will have the honour of receiving for the first time

THE DESMOND WILLIAMS MEMORIAL AWARD

This will take the form of a silver rose bowl which the recipient will retain for a year plus a cheque for £250.

The award is being made by the Graig Group in memory of their late Chairman Mr. Desmond Idwal Williams, who died in August last after 50 years at the helm of his Company and is being presented at the Branch Annual Dinner on April 16th by their Finance Director Mr. Chris Davies.

The South Wales and the West Branch is most appreciative of the generosity of the Graig Group in presenting this award. 

The future of the other presentation, which has been made for the past two years to the Branch member who has made a special contribution to the Branch during the past year, has been in doubt. The IMERYS AWARD was instigated by Clive Kessell, FICS, one of the senior managers at Imerys Minerals, Fowey, Cornwall. Mr Kessell left the company in 2009 but I have now been assured that the Company wish to continue with the presentation, so that too will be made at the Annual Dinner this year.

A third presentation to be made at this year’s dinner will be the certificate of Membership to Mr. John Davey, MICS, managing director of Cargo Services (U.K.) Limited, the Cardiff stevedores, seen here with his son Lloyd. Mr. Davey obtained his membership by writing a dissertation of some 15,000+ words on the pros and cons of the building of a Severn Barrage. The research required to obtain the necessary facts and information to achieve the desired level of expertise to produce a document which would meet the Institute’s high standards was considerable and Mr. Davey is to be congratulated on his success. We welcome him as a member of the Branch and the Institute.

John is the newest qualified member of the Branch and has been associated with the Port of Cardiff since 1965 since he began work with Minton, Treharne & Davies sampling coal exports and oil imports on seagoing vessels as well as vapour testing ocean going tankers undergoing repairs in drydock. He then joined Associated British Ports and its predecessors in 1967 when he started as a management trainee and eventually became Operations Manager for the ports of Cardiff & Barry from 1986 – 1997. In 1997 he set up Cardiff Stevedoring & Cargo Handling with Tony Davies who had effected a management buyout of Ryan Transport 2 years earlier. Since then the parent company has grown from strength to strength. The groups operations are now right across the the South Wales Ports as well as a branch in the Midlands and offers its customers a unique maritime ports logistics package.

In 2005 the Company set up a Ships Agency Department and has so far carried out over 650 agencies. This department is headed by John’s son Lloyd (26) who joined the Company 2 years ago. Lloyd is a graduate of Glamorgan University with a BA Hons. Degree in Computer Studies. John is hoping Lloyd will now follow in his footsteps in seeking membership of the Institute so we expect to see him at, at least some of the further education lectures.

At least a week has passed since I wrote the former items and quite a lot has been happening in the Branch. Chairman Theo, with considerable help and co-operation from Ms. Victoria Dwyer, Company Secretary at the Graig Group has put together the following programme of lectures aimed mainly at Branch registered students but also open to anyone else in the Branch area who is interested in the subject or would like a refresher. If you wish to attend just let me know. All lectures will be held at Graig’s offices at 1, Caspian Point, Caspian Way, Cardiff Bay, CF10 4DQ. There is a multi-storey car park near the entrance. The first three will be held from 1230 – 1430pm and the fourth is a whole morning 0930am – 1230pm. Sandwiches will be provided.

The full programme is as follows:-

FORTHCOMING ICS STUDENT LECTURES
to be held at the offices of Graig Shipping Plc
5th Floor, 1 Caspian Point, Cardiff Bay, CF10 4DQ

Wed. 24th Feb 1230-1430 Introduction to Shipping. Mr. Alan Humphries, FICS.

Mon. 8th Mar 1230 – 1430 Ship Operations & Management; Mr. Hugh Price, Chartering Mgr., Graig Shipping, London Office.

Wednesday 24th March 1200 – 1500hrs ‘PORT AND TERMINAL MANAGEMENT.’ Lecturer- Mr. Syamantak Bhattacharya. PLYMOUTH UNIVERSITY Business School, Cookworthy Building, PLYMOUTH, PL4 8AA
Contact – Mr. J.A. Challacombe (Branch Education Officer) if you wish to attend. Email: Jchallacombe@plymouth.ac.uk Tel: 01732-232444.

Wed. 31st Mar 1230 – 1430 Port Agency; Edward (Ted) Renshaw, FICS

Mon. 12th April 0930 – 1230 Shipping Business; Mr. Graeme Nimmo, FICS

For a place at the ‘seat of learning’ please ring Theo Coliandris (02920 460444) or David Moore (02920 892419)

MORE DATES FOR YOUR DIARY.

INSTITUTE Members always receive a warm welcome at lectures held by the Institute of Marine Engineers, South Wales Branch. And the following are being held in the ensuing months.

Monday 12th April 2010 (1830 for 1900 hours) - ’Marine Machinery Condition Monitoring’- The Present & the future – including that installed aboard ‘Queen Mary 2’
Martin Bridon, James Fisher Marine Services.

Monday May 10th 2010 (1830 for 1900)
“RFA ‘Bay Class’ Landing Ship Dock
(Auxilliary) Vessels.
Lt. Cdr. Gary McKenzie RNR.

Monday 7th June 2010 (times tba.)
Joint Lecture with ICE Wales.
Milford Haven Port – Where are we now?
Andrew Brown. Engineering Director
Milford Haven Port Authority.

If you wish to attend any of these please email their Secretary David Gambles at
david-gambles@supanet.com.

My thanks to all this month’s contributors, this issue is really worth distributing. Make sure your staff take advantage of the lectures and I hope to see you all at the dinner on 16th April. TICKETS NOW AVAILABLE..

Best wishes.
DAVID MOORE
(Branch Hon. Secretary)