A society for those interested in passenger ships of yesterday, today and tomorrow.
Interest in Passenger Ships often develops from a fascination with the glamour of the days when ships with tall raked smoke stacks were the only way to cross to the Americas.
One often finds that museums and magazines have only a small proportion of the whole devoted to this fascinating and absorbing aspect of shipping. How often does the student or browser enthralled by the passenger ship have to deal with naval vessels and coastal craft, barges and navigation instruments? This Society is for those who want to go straight to the heart of the Passenger Ship story.
People develop romantic interests such as the mail services to far flung colonies, the regular services linking countries together or cargo liners that also carried passengers.
The Society is for those interested in the passenger carrying vessels of the past from the age of sail right through to the present and what lies ahead. Many members developed their interest in ships after working at sea or taking holidays on cruise liners, indeed cruising and how it is changing is a key interest to hundreds of our members.
The aim of the Society is to be a focus for those primarily interested in ships that undertook line voyages and the cruise lines that will take us to sea in the 21st century. Based in Britain, it has links with learned and knowledgeable writers, researchers and has members all over the world.
Whether you are fascinated by the Australian, New Zealand and Pacific services of P&O or Orient Line, Royal Mail Line services to South America, the German greyhounds, Canadian or European liners plying the St Lawrence, Portuguese ships serving Africa, the services to the Cape or the grand Italian liners and more .... the Society has something for you.
Whether you just want to get more out of your cruise holidays or have a passion for other aspects of shipping such as the celebrities who sailed in them or the lives of ordinary people touched by the experience of travelling or working on passenger ships, the Society can help you develop your interest.
The passenger ship is a developing and living thing. Its role has changed from an uncomfortable and necessary form of transportation to a highly developed leisure vehicle.
We are in exciting times as new tonnage is now being delivered which once more outstrips the superlatives of the “golden age” some 60 years ago.
Sea Lines is the quarterly journal of the Ocean Liner Society and is packed with pictures and articles about liners old and new. Members are invited to contribute articles about ships or ways of life they have known, or about their particular interests or specialisation.
A balance is struck between history and current issues, the glamorous and the more ordinary ships that take or took people around our globe with contemporary articles by a wide range of authors. There is something for all.
The Society hosts lectures from visiting specialists as well as staging the premier Ship Show in Britain in central London each autumn, an event which is getting bigger each year. The 1998 show is scheduled for 24 October at Westminster Central Hall, Storeys Gate (opposite Westminster Abbey)
Some members specialise in more artistic details such as the design of silverware, crockery, menus, ship postcards, paintings or the interior design of the ships themselves.
There are monthly talks or discussions on shipping topics with hot ship news. These are held in London every month except August on the third Tuesday of the month at 7.00 p.m. in the upstairs room of the New Savoy Tavern, Savoy Street. (The road that runs between the Strand and the Queen Mary on the Embankment - Strand end)
As the organisation develops from it roots as an association of enthusiasts to a respected and well connected Society, it is projected that the following aspects will be pursued:-
· a centre of knowledge and experience on cruising and passenger ship history
· a resource and “sounding board” for shipping companies to consult.
· comment and articles on passenger shipping development and innovation
· education and information
· escorted travel groups at discounted prices (when opportunities arise)
· provision of speakers and archive material to other organisations
· ship visits
To join the Society contact Roger Sidley, Vice Chairman (Membership), Ocean Liner Society, 54 Devon Road, Watford, Hertfordshire. WD2 4HN UK Tel: Int + 44(0)1923 243945 Fax Int + 44(0)1923 496730. E-mail OceanLiner@mcmail.com.