QE2 Final Westbound Crossing

By:   Christopher Wallace
Imprint:   Christopher Wallace
Country of Publication:   United Kingdom
Dimensions:   Height: 216mm,  Width: 140mm, 
ISBN:   9781739213602
ISBN 10:   1739213602
Pages:   100
Publication Date:   15 December 2022
Audience:   General/trade ,  ELT Advanced
Format:   Paperback
Publisher's Status:   Active

"Hello my name is Christopher Wallace and I was born and brought up in East Kilbride in Lanarkshire Scotland. I now live in the county of Berkshire in southern England. The two great interests I have had all my life, have been Cunard Ocean liners and VW Campers.I have written several articles and a book on both these subjects and am proud to say that this work has been published here in Britain.When I was a very small boy, my mother told me that my paternal grandfather had worked as a riveter in the shipyard of John Brown & Co Ltd in Clydebank Scotland, whilst the shipyard was building job number 534 in the early 1930's.This liner was launched and self-named by HM Queen Mary in 1934 and knowing that my grandfather helped make this fine ship awoke an interest in me in Cunard liners which culminated in writing a memoir of my experiences on the QE2's final westbound crossing of the Atlantic from Southampton England to New York, which has just been published under the title of ""QE2: Final Westbound Crossing"" by SWATT Books in England.As a member of the Queen Mary's Facebook page, I entered a competition they ran to celebrate the Queen Mary's 75th Anniversary of her Maiden Voyage - detailing in at least 75 words, ""Why the Queen Mary was important to you."" I related the story I had heard when I was a small boy, about how a workmate of my grandpa's had borrowed and then dropped grandpa's spanner down between the double hull plates of the ship and as it was impossible to retrieve, grandpa's spanner is most likely still there to this day!My story came in 12th out of 25 winning stories and my prize was that my story (and the other 24 winning stories) was to be displayed on the Queen Mary in Long Beach California for all time.My VW Camper - the other great love of my life has brought its own pleasures and ""Claim to Fame"" also.I spent an enjoyable weekend at ""VANFEST"" in Warwickshire in 2003, for a gathering of VW Campers and the highlight of that year's show, was ""The Big Split"".Having grown-up with my parents 3 Split-Screen VW Campers, I felt obliged to attend this event and arrived early at the field on the morning where hundreds of VW Campers parked to make the shape of a Big ""Splittie"" and was thrilled to park my VW Camper in the last available space allotted to campers which made the shape of the ""VW"" badge on the huge ""Splittie"".I am pleased to be able to share my pleasures with other fans of these two iconic forms of travel."