The LONDONBROOK

The LONDONBROOK traded to Wicklow in the early 1980s on a liner general cargo route from Swedish ports - among them, Gothenburg to Dublin and Wicklow Ports.

Because the service in Wicklow was very efficient, the trade continued and increased in the port right up to the early 2000s.The ship was operated by a very well known British company called Everard Shipping. Their ships had become quite a regular feature in Wicklow Port since the early 1970s when their vessels were regularly employed on the Casablanca to Wicklow run, transporting rock phosphate for the N.E.T. fertilizer factory in Arklow.

The LONDONBROOK was built in 1975 by Tille Scheepsbouw, Koostertille in the Netherlands. She sported several names during her career. In 1977, she became the TOWERSTREAM until 1980,b then the LONDONBROOK until 1986, the JOKER until 1993, and the NORMANNBAY until 1997. She was then sold to her final owners as the TRI BAY. She traded under this name until 31st August 2013 when she arrived off Aliaga in Turkey for scrapping.

I was very impressed by the size of the LONDONBROOK, as she would have been one of the largest vessels to trade into Wicklow Port at that time. I think it might have been around 1987 that I decided to paint her onto the pier wall. Don't ask me how I worked out the scale of this mural, as it is very large. It seemed that it was an adventure for me and the weather favoured me very much. 

A great memory from that painting period was that, above me on the upper level of the pier, while I was working on the mural were several fellows who were fishing for conger eels - and I recall that they actually caught quite a large one!

I am including several pictures of the vessel below provided by a friend of mine who has worked in Dublin Port for many years - the good Robbie Cox!





Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Welcome to My Blog

Image
  Hi everyone, For close on 50 years, I have been the resident artist of maritime murals on the East Pier of Wicklow Town Port in Ireland. This blog aims to create a digital record of my 70+ maritime-themed artworks, and the stories that inspired them, for your enjoyment and for posterity. The East Pier at Wicklow Port continues to be my second home where, as a marine artist, I love sharing my art with so many of you who enjoy walking along the pier from time to time. This vast outdoor canvas has enabled me to create a unique gallery of nautical-themed murals, thereby fulfilling my desire to make the pier a better place for everyone! Fascinated by ships from the age of 9, sketching became my childhood hobby, which I continued as I grew older - capturing visiting ships to the port in pencil sketches and ink drawings. In the summer of 1976, I got permission from the then local Harbour Master, Captain Willie Kinsella to retouch a mural of the Greek ship, the 'Eliana' which had bee...
Read more

The ELIANA

Image
The Greek-registered cargo ship, the ELIANA was the first maritime mural painted on the old east pier. It was created by a crew member of the ship in 1971.  In 1976, I was requested by some local people to revive the piece as it had suffered deterioration. This was my first artwork on the pier. The ELIANA was a large vessel which regularly deliverd phosphate from Casablanca, Morocco to Wicklow Town harbour. This was used as a component for fertiliser that was produced in Arklow (the ELIANA being too large to birth there). I have fond boyhood memories of being allowed to play on the ship's decks and having my first 'foreign' meal there - spaghetti bollanaise!
Read more

The PS WAVERLEY

Image
  The PS WAVERLEY is the last seagoing passenger-carrying paddle steamer in the world.  She was named after Sir Walter Scott's first novel and was built in 1946 by A & J Inglis in Glasgow, Scotland to replace a PS WAVERLEY that was sunk in 1940 while helping to evacuate troops from Dunkirk. Bought in 1974 by a registered charity, the Paddle Steamer Preservation Society (PSPS), and following a successful public fund-raising appeal, she was restored to her original 1946 appearance to operate passenger excursions around the British coast. I recall how the vessel's owners decided to operate a short series of passenger tours in 1984 from Dublin port and docking at Wicklow Town, Arklow, and on one occasion onward to Rosslare. A shorter series of tours was conducted in 1985 when I decided to create a mural of the WAVERLEY on the East Pier. I included a Scottish flag in honour of the vessel's Scottish roots. This coincided with my early years working as a postman in Wicklow Tow...
Read more