R M S Mauretania with Coquet island, Northumberland

RMS Mauretania  - Stamp Collage - by Rachel Markwick 

More time at home, due to the Coronovirus  situation requiring us to Stay Home,  means more time to complete a project which has been a long time in the making, or I should say, mullng over .Previous posts have mentioned  R M S  Mauretania, the beautiful Cunard liner, and the Puffins of Coquet island, as well as a trip to Bristol where I managed to talk my way into the now disused Mauretania pub which contains some of the fixtures and fittings of the ship. The last thing to do was to add the masts and rigging sewn into the paper. I've really enjoyed the research,  reading about the ship's various transformations over the years, in both wartime and peacetime, and have used some artist's licence with the paint colours which were the original ones when she was first launched, and of course the scale of the Puffins!

Detail : Coquet Island off the coast of Amble, Northumberland 

Hope you like it! .





I will have prints available in the near future when life gets back to normal.  Please let me know if you are interested.

Puffins on Coquet Island, on stamps and at Middlesbrough's Dorman Museum .. and in a new collage

My first sight of live puffins was  on a boat trip to Coquet Island in Northumberland from Amble. last July 

Up to 22,000 pairs  were currently on the island, although by the end of July each year they migrate to other climes.  Coquet Island is protected by the RSPB  to ensure that the puffins are relatively undisturbed and able to survive and breed, so our boat, operated by Dave Gray and family was able to get within viewing distance of the numbered nest boxes but not authorised to land.  We also saw Common Terns and the rarer Roseate Terns, of which there are more than 100 pairs on the island.. Expert eyes were able to pick out the latter.  Puffins have featured on postage stamps, including a set of British birds appropriately commemorating the centenary of the RSPB in 1989 and a Post and Go series of bird stamps from Lino Prints by artist Robert Gilmor  also included a puffin.  I'm now working on a new collage, the ship R.M.S.  Mauretania which sailed by the town on Amble, and Coquet island on her last journey and Puffins will feature!  Hoping that with more time at home, this collage will soon be finished! 

As usually happens when one becomes interested in a particular subject, we  also came across a whole room of taxidermy in the Dorman Museum in Middlesbrough, where I was born.

Mauretania Day in Amble, the Friendliest port in England

Celebrated in Amble, Northumberland every year around 3rd July is Mauritania Day. It gets its name from the famous Cunard liner the RMS Mauritania.   The ship passed Amble on that day in 1935  heading to Rosyth to be broken up,and  received the message from the Amble "Amble to Mauretania, Greetings from Amble last port in England, to still the finest ship on the seas."  The reply came back. Mauretania to Urban Council, Amble, to the last and kindliest port in England, greetings and thanks, Mauretania".  Kindliest has over the years become "friendliest", and having visited recently I totally agree!

Built in Newcastle's Swan Hunter shipyard in 1907 for Cunard, she carried wealthy passengers on ocean cruises, and gained the Blue Ribband for being the fastest vessel to cross the Atlantic, maintaining this record for 22 years until it was superceded by the Bremmen. She had 9 decks, carrying passengers in  1st, 2nd and 3rd class.  The first class areas were very sumptious and lined with shiny mahogony and decked out with chandeliers.
On Mauritania Day, which this year took place on the 7th July,  we were able to witness the pride of the town in being named, "the kindliest (now friendliest) port in England" with a programme of entertainment throughout the day including Brass bands, choirs, Belly dancers, the weekly  market, and a very welcoming  street Cafe Church service with tea and cake.

Inspired by the ship's story, on return home I began my research, with a view to making a collage of this beautiful old vessel. Unsure at the moment quite how or where  to portray her, as photos of old postcards and ancient photographs show her with varying paint colours including a very jazzy paint effect during the war.







Always  after a ship to collage, the Mauritania certainly fits the bill, and to my delight I find  I have two stamps  depicting her.  Back in pre-decimal 1969, and in my own collection is   a set of Ships designed by renowned stamp designer, David Gentleman., including the 1/- Mauritania.

  In 2004 a series of  stamps depicting ocean liners was issued  including a 47p  RMS Mauritania stamp from a painting by Thomas Henry

Researching  online, I dicover  that not far from home. is a pub in Bristol  called The Mauritania which is fitted out with some of the original wood panelling and other decorative items  from the ship, so that was my next destination ...   More to follow ...