THE TITANIC EXPERIENCE

Our Shipyard visit

During the following days we visited Belfast and went to the Titanic Exhibition. I had read a lot about it and it had very good press, this added to Ivan a family friend saying it was a must,this finally made our minds up.
The exhibition is encased in a building, which really does have the Wow factor; I would put it in a class not far behind the Sydney Opera House and the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao.

It is built at the head of the slipway on which the Titanic and the Olympic where built in 1909-10. A massive Arrol gantry was built like a steel ribbed corset along and above the slipways; this made the building of the two mighty ships much easier and quicker than in previous builds.

We first went inside and got our tickets as we had an hour to spare we  then went outside and had a look at the mighty slipways (now-a-days many of the great tankers are not launched but built in a covered graving dock).

The bows of the ship would have been about at the front entrance door and some of the original slipway and tracks are still in place. The modern lighting pillars stand in the position once occupied by the lattice steel Arrol gantry supporting towers.

Towards the position of the stern is a replica of the poop, this would not have been built when the launch took place, but is there for reference, this looks out into the specially dredged Victoria channel.

 

The ground where the original slipways had been is now marked out to show the size of the ships and also the position of the few life boats and the four massive funnels. It was a bit chilly so Linda and her Dad popped in to have a cup of coffee and a bite to eat.

 

Inside the impressive building you get to the ticket booths (advisable to book in advance as when we went it was booked out for the next 4 days). The hallway is dominated by the mighty chandelier suspended in the centre of the building

The inside of the building has been constructed so that you are led through the whole of its life from the conception through the keel laying to the construction, to the fitting out, to the sailing and its sinking. But the story doesn’t finish there as there is a very well put together visual section that shows and explains the search and eventual discovery of the might liner lying in her final resting place.

The replica Arrol gantry that serves as a lift to start you off on your journey through the Harland and Wolf shipyard 

 

 

The drawing office, very similar in layout to the one I worked in while serving my apprenticeship, we wore white smock coats thank goodness

 

I served my Engineering apprenticeship in a shipyard on the Tyne, this was at a time when many of the building practises such as riveting, caulking, steam triple expansion engines were nearing the end of their days, but luckily I did work on ships that still had to be maintained and repaired using these time old processes, it took me back to my youth almost 50 years ago.

Wonderful, it was so vivid, so real; it was as if I had been whisked back through time. The “Shipyard Ride” is a wonderful adventure in itself, passing through the wonderland of a shipyard without any of the dangers, noise and smells.

If you have ever worked in a double bottom, like the one above you will know what noise is, the riveting and hammering goes on all the time from the start of the shift until the end, there is no respite and no end to the din.

 

There was also a large display showing the cabins, there fittings and the different classes, some the toffs of the turn of the century.

The Bridge with its paraphernalia and the last messages to be sent after striking the iceberg.

 It was for me one of the highlights of this holiday and will live long in my memory, I could have spent another couple of hours just wandering and looking at all of the fantastic exhibits and visual displays. From the hemp for the hawsers and ropes, to Gallaher's snuff, the ticket punches and the advertising of the period.
 

 

Well done Belfast, I will certainly visit again, it was well worth the 9 quid (over sixty does have its advantage and as Bob paid it cost me nowt).

 

 

Some of the large and small vessels built in the once proud shipyard, the gates that the hoards of workmen once poured through at the start of each day are now to be admired in part of the experience.

We headed for home and got some fish and chips at the Pit Stop in Kilkeel, I’d dropped Linda and her dad off, and so when I got home, the tea was ready and the bread and butter.

I then set about finished off some of my Blogg

and Bob watched the footy on TV

Well it's hard graft doing a couple of shifts in the Shipyard!!!