Lanarkshire Philatelic Society

"Mrs. Elizabeth Nairn"

"The River that launched a Thousand Ships"

Elizabeth gave us an absolutely wonderful display of material relating to the River Clyde; in particular Clyde shipyards & Shipbuilding.

She started though by paying tribute to her father who was a seaman & had worked on the Clyde.....she showed us many drawings of ships drawn by her father & also paid tribute to other uncles (her father's brothers) who perished at the fall of Singapore to the Japanese in World War 2. Much of her display related to the many Clyde built ships that operated throughout the world with stamps & postcards from (literally) all four corners of the globe. Other material on show depicted the "Empress of Ireland" dubbed "Canada's Titanic" as a result of her sinking in the St Lawrence Seaway with the loss of over 1,000 lives following a collision in thick fog. She concluded her first round with material relating to "Operation Pedestal", a convoy of supplies to Malta in 1942, with 88 stamps....one for each of the ships involved.

Elizabeth's second round revolved around ships, ships & more ships. The story of the "Sir Walter Scott" built in pieces then transported and assembled at Loch Katrine.....where she still operates to this day. Other material related to the "Great Cunarders"; the "RMS Queen Mary" & the "RMS Queen Elizabeth"; and, of course the much later "RMS Queen Elizabeth II". The "Cutty Sark" featured as well as the (infamous) "Carrick" which was for many years berthed, and twice sank, on the Clyde (but not built there) & which now resides in Port Adelaide, Australia. Other notable (of many) builds included "HMAS Onslow", an Australian submarine; the "Wahine", a New Zealand inter island ferry which sank, in a storm, in Wellington Harbour; the "SS Uganda", a British hospital ship & finally the "Iolaire" which was the first emergency support vessel built for the North Sea oil industry.

A thoroughly entertaining, and informative, display was accorded an eloquent vote of thanks by Hon. Vice President, Mrs. Sheila Sinclair.

Our next meeting in the Caledonian Bowling Club, Motherwell Road, Hamilton, is on Friday, 18th November, 2021, at 7:30pm when Mr. Terence Woods will present a display entitled "Lanark & District Postal History"

Anyone with an interest in stamps, postal history, postcards etc is very welcome to attend.

More details of the Society’s programme - and much more information – can be obtained from our web site – www.lanarkshireps.co.uk