Dunera Cruise 1962

[down south]

Here as promised elsewhere is a photo of my sister Anne Nock and some of the others from the Ardrossan Academy party aboard the Dunera in 1962; she's the one smiling at the camera in the middle. I seem to remember being told once that the fellow in the silly hat on the left was actually one of the Academy teachers who accompanied the party...!; maybe Avril would be able to confirm this and possibly identify him. The hat itself was another of the souvenirs Anne brought home; it was even sillier in full , highly-assorted colour ...

Don't know if you remember my sister at all, Avril ? Could you be the " E. S. Rennie " ( as I read it ) whose signature I found on her copy of the 1962 school magazine ?

Susan

[Meg]

What a lovely smile your sister had Susan, a really pretty girl.

Meg

[wellparkno9]

Hi Susan ,the teacher in your photo looks familiar although I did not go to the Academy.I think his name is Mr Skelly.I think he still lives in Lindsey Ave. May be some one else can confirm. Sam.

[morag]

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I went on the Dunera to Copenhagen, Stockholm and Leningrad, can't remember the year though.

[avril]

Here as promised elsewhere is a photo of my sister Anne Nock and some of the others from the Ardrossan Academy party aboard the Dunera in 1962; she's the one smiling at the camera in the middle. I seem to remember being told once that the fellow in the silly hat on the left was actually one of the Academy teachers who accompanied the party...!; maybe Avril would be able to confirm this and possibly identify him. The hat itself was another of the souvenirs Anne brought home; it was even sillier in full , highly-assorted colour ...

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Don't know if you remember my sister at all, Avril ? Could you be the " E. S. Rennie " ( as I read it ) whose signature I found on her copy of the 1962 school magazine ?

Susan

Hello, Susan!

Good detective work on your part. Yes, my surname was and is Rennie. So, if I signed your sister's mag as ES Rennie, this can only mean that my writing was illegible.

I can't remember the teacher with the silly hat. Sorry about that! I'm afraid I have very hazy memories of that Dunera cruise.

We went to Bergen Fish Market and saw live fish wriggling in tanks, waiting to be chosen by shoppers. (Very fresh, those fish!) Near Bergen, there was the home and burial place of Edvard Greig, the composer. There was also a centuries-old wooden church which had been built entirely without nails. Apparently, Norway used to have a lot of these ancient wooden churches - but vandals have been burning them down. Tragic!

We also visited Oslo. Off the top of my head, I can't remember much of what we saw in Oslo. Was that the place with the funicular railway? I suspect it was. We certainly would have seen the parliament building and the royal palace. I seem to remember seeing a succession of important public buildings on that cruise!

In Copenhagen, we saw the Little Mermaid. That was before she got beheaded by someone seeking publicity. Oh, yes, and Tivoli Gardens, an elaborate pleasure-garden with all sorts of family entertainments, as I recall.

In Hamburg, there was the famous Zoo. And I'm sure there were monuments and public buildings as well.

Back at the ship, there were deck-games. And a competition as to which was the tidiest dormitory. Was the Ardrossan Academy dormitory called Nelson? And did we win the competition for tidiness? I think we did! (Nowadays, such tidy youngsters would be regarded as "sad"!)

What can other people remember about that cruise?

[Penny Tray]

Avril,

The funicular railway was in Bergen:

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[Penny Tray]

Avril,

Did you also go to Kronberg Castle in Elinsore, famous for its connection with Shakespeare's 'HAMLET'?

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/c ... Castle.jpg" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[down south]

I remember Mr Skelly, Sam, he taught Chemistry at the Academy for many years and was head of the department in my day; Mrs Skelly was also a science teacher alongside him . Nice to hear he's still living. But although there's a bit of a resemblance I'm not sure this can be him, because according to the school magazine it was a Mr Godsman and a Mr McTaggart who accompanied the party, neither of whom I knew.

I've found an account of the cruise in the magazine written by one of the pupils under the pen-name " Seasick ", which may spark some extra memories among you; and when I get round to typing it out I'll post it here.

Susan

[maryl]

I think that it is Mr McTaggart. I didn't go on the cruise but I remember he taught Maths in the Academy for a very few years in the early 60s and then left to go somewhere exotic. Madagascar? Maryl

[Penny Tray]

Maryl,

A warm welcome since it's your first post.

[Milda]

welcome aboard Maryl ,think you are right,but I think it is just Taggart no Mc.I am sure it is him and he taught me maths,well tried anyway.

[down south]

Here as promised is the account of the 1962 cruise from the magazine :

" On the morning of Thursday 24th May last year, a party of pupils from various schools in North Ayrshire departed by train on the first lap of a Scandinavian cruise. After joining a party who came from South Ayrshire, we journeyed for three hours to Grangemouth, where we were due to embark.

We sailed at 4 pm and were shown our dormitories and muster stations to which we had to go if the ship should by any chance sink. That night, as we found out later, most pupils drank too many cokes, since many wakened at five in the morning to find that they were seasick, the ship being buffeted by a force nine gale. Despite the promise of the crew that we would reach calm water in a few hours, we sailed on in these conditions all day. A dance was held on deck, but only the hardier types among us attended.

The next day at seven am - what a time to get up - we were sailing up the placid Bergen fiord. We went sight-seeing but to our disappointment most of the sailors on board were English and were not able to conduct us on our tour. The local people , however, were extremely helpful, most of them speaking English fairly well.

On Sunday we sailed to Oslo, which we reached at 8 am on Monday. Again we toured the city and among its interesting features is Frogner Park, in which there are hundreds of statues. A display of Norwegian dancing was given that night.

The next day was spent on board as we were sailing to Copenhagen. There was a hockey match between the teachers and the crew, the teachers winning by two goals to one .

The Wednesday was spent in Copenhagen, shopping in the morning and touring in the afternoon. We visited Helsingor, Hamlet's castle, but no one caught sight of the ghost. Thursday was also spent in port, but it poured , so that our visit to the Tivoli Gardens was spoilt. We sailed at six in the evening and entered the Kiel Canal at about nine am the next morning. We arrived at Hamburg on Saturday morning and one of the highlghts of our visit there was our visit to the Hagenbeck Zoo. Early next morning we sailed off down the Elbe.

On the homeward voyage we enjoyed wonderful weather and everyone endeavoured to get tanned. We disembarked on Tuesday morning and after a train journey we arrived home once more.

We are all very grateful to the crew, our party leaders, Mr Godsman and Mr McTaggart, and to Ayr County Council for making it possible. "

If any details of this seem not to agree with people's experiences; I've discovered that Academy pupils also went on a cruise with the same list of destinations in 1963. Morag, who visited Russia on hers, was obviously on a different one yet again; so there must have been more than one cruise a year involving Ayrshire schools.

So it's quite possible that all concerned may in fact have been on different cruises, even if they went to the same places.

Susan