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| Titanic memorial. |
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| Lusitania memorial. The torpedoing of this ship off the Old Head of Kinsale and the massive loss of life (1,192) brought the USA into the First World war. 150 of the victims are buried in Cobh cemetery in mass graves. |
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| The empty bandstand waiting for tourists and brass bands. |
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| Navigator sculpture with Cobh Cathedral in the background. |
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| The old wooden pier from the White Star Line ticket offices. This is where the Queenstown passengers boarded the launches to the Titanic. First class was from sixty pounds to two hundred and sixty pounds. Second class fares ranged from thirteen pound to seventy nine pounds. Third Class was around seven pounds! One hundred and twenty three people boarded the launches to the Titanic from this eerie looking pier. Only 44 survived! |
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| Time and the elements are removing parts of the pier. |
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| Imagine being sad and joyful at the same time? |
what a great day out. So many interesting things.
ReplyDeleteThanks Sol. The pier, the ships memorials and the plaque on the Rob Roy Hotel really brought it home. Up until the 1950's places like Southampton and Cobh (Queenstown) were bustling sea ports transporting goods and passengers all over the world. Then the Jumbo jets were invented and the great liners were no more. So sad and the inevitable we call progress! Thanks Sol!
ReplyDeleteCobh is a very interesting, pretty and sad place I think.
ReplyDeleteTwiggy
Think you sum it up perfectly, Twiggy. You still get massive cruise liners visiting Cobh during the summer. But the British naval base and the Atlantic liners are no more. The Lusitania was coal fired and she could cross the Atlantic in 5 days. The journey to Australia use to take 5 weeks. A lot of people were kept at Spike Island across from Cobh and deported to the West Indies and Australia. You pick up on the sadness of the departing people when you visit Cobh. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteStill got its band-stand, ours went about 30 years ago, removed to make way for an extended childrens play area, sadly all the swings and banana slide removed due to vandalism and H & S concerns. Sad world sometimes.
ReplyDeleteThat's so sad, Cumbrian. Towns use to take great pride in their parks with bandstands, pristine velvet bowling greens and formal flower beds planted with geraniums. I have read a lot about "Elf and Safety" madness in the UK. I still don't agree about the smoking ban in pubs. Why couldn't they have had smoking areas instead of people having to stand outside in the cold and rain? They seem to make rules just to boss people about.
ReplyDeleteYou would have liked Cobh, Cumbrian. Georgian type buildings like the North bay in Scarborough and Whitby. It was like visiting an English town in Ireland. The English were brilliant for building infrastructure weren't they? The demise of the railways is another sign of a sad world. Thanks!
Yeah, I sometimes think H & S have a lot to answer for, some of their dictates seemed designed to cause maximum frustration, as you say, just rules for the sake of rules and keeping an army of jobsworths in employment.
ReplyDeleteThe banana slide was dismantled when a little girl got her lags and bum lacerated because some bastard glued razor blades to it. I could make a case for bringing back public flogging.
Yes the Georgians and Victorians certainly knew how to build in style, un-fettered by Planning or H & S issues. Never could understand why they dismantled so much of our rail network, it didn't appear to stand up to logic
It appears that Westminster based governments have been selling off and disposing of the family silver for years. The axing of the railways is a classic example of narrow mindedness and penny pinching. Ship building iin Britain is a thing of the past and 200 years of coal is left in the ground. It's sad to live in a post industrial British Isles. Not forgetting The Atlantic Fleet was based in Cobh and down here in West Cork.
ReplyDeleteAs a child it was always exciting to travel to Southampton from my home town of Poole, the train line passed close to the docks and one of the 'Queens' Was always in dock, The Queen Mary with her three funnels and two if it was Elizabeth. We had 'proper trains' in those days, they still make me go weak at the knees. Both ships went out of commission within a year of each other, so much for progress. I think most towns had band stands, do they still exist? I well remember the beautiful park in Bournemouth, lovely flower beds all year round set with night lights, in the summer at dusk the lamp lighters would go round all the beds lighting the little night lights.
ReplyDeleteWhat a wonderful word picture you describe, Anne. My grandmother's sister lived in Cobh and her husband was the chief laundry officer on one of those Atlantic liners. I love steam trains and branch lines. All quintisentially English and reminds you of a time never to return. I think the nearest thing to your night lights that I have seen. Is the Japanese gardens in Peasolm park in Scarborough - quite enchanting. Another one of my interests are visiting stately homes and their gardens here in Ireland. Thanks Anne.
ReplyDeleteheads up. my blog has gone weird and no one can get into it...
ReplyDeleteSorry to read your blog is playing up Sol. Hopefully the powers that be (Blogger) will get it back up and running for you.
ReplyDelete