Posts from arthurarnell in thread „Why Not Give Us A Little Personal Info“

Hi Chester and Stumpy,

The toilet paper like most government stores also had a broad arrow on it the same sort you would see on convict uniforms in the early British comedy pictures.

As a civil servant we were graded and each of our ranks had an appropriate naval rank and privileges my rank was equivelant to a Royal Naval Commander.

In my time as Master Rigger in charge of fifty men I had some fantastic experences and met some great people. As I related in a previous post i've seen Bill Clinton and all of the heads of state who attended the 'D' Day Celebrations held at Portsmouth in 1994. Been presented to the Queen. Both Prince Charles and Prince Andrew were in command of minesweepers at one time before going on to other ships

When ever a foreign naval ship visited Portsmouth they used to hold a large cocktail party and I have enjoyed great nights on many American vessels, the first American ship I looked over was the USS Iowa, the last being the USS Enterprise which was awesome and my first visit to an American carrier since the Nimitz. In between the Winston S Churchill's first visit after being commissioned was to Portsmouth.

2005 marks the 200th anniversary of the Battle of Trafalgar and to celebrate Portsmouth is holding the third International Festival of the Sea which will be attended by representatives of nearly every major navies. All of the big sailing ships from Russia, Holland, and South American countries will be here, and including small ships a total of almost a thousand vessel from the newest carrier to the earliest replicas will cram into Portsmouth Harbour or out in the Solent.

If you want to find out more there is a website International Festival of the Sea which might give you a flavour.

If your a sea going type, next June July Portsmouth is the place to be.

Chester if your son is interested in knot tying there is in being an organisation called the International Guild of Knot Tiers Association which are an incredible bunch of people and welcome new members world wide.

My Very Best Regards

Arthur

Hi Stumpy.

I worked in Portsmouth Naval Base yes as a ships Rigger but we were also responsible for refitting our modern ships with Rigging and my duties also included tying ships up and sailing them from their berths, and putting ships into docks.

HMS Victory is the oldest commissioned ship in the world and still has a serving naval captain and crew. In total she has twenty seven miles of Rigging and in her fighting condition was a first line Battle ship with a crew of eight hundred men.

The interesting and sometimes annoying thing was that with all the modern technology sometimes it was necessary to remove masts and spars in the same maner as the did in the eighteenth century i.e by capstan.

Regards

Arthur

:lol: Hi all

When I read of the places you live and all the fabulous country scenary that we only ever see in the movies it makes me envious.

For me I was born bred and raised in Portsmouth Hampshire UK in 1943 and have recently retired after working forty five years as a rigger, the last eleven of them as a Master Rigger. (If your'e interested in old fighting ships take a look at HMS Victory Admiral Nelson's flag ship at the battle of Trafalger in 1805) It knocks the Constitution into a cocked hat). If you look at Gregory Peck's Horatio Hornblower RN you get a pretty good shot of the ship.

I have worked in Scotland and the West Country and visited Spain, Portugal, Austria, Switzerland (briefly).

as a kid I watched Distant Drums and other pictures about Florida seeing cottonmouths, swamps alligators and swore that if I ever got to the States the one place I wouldn't visit would be Florida.
So far I've been there five times, and my daughter got married in Kissessamee.

I'm married with three kids and live in a terraced house in one of the most congested cities in the world and in a previous post I mentioned the various authors who also came from Portsmouth.

I began watching John Wayne pictures in the late 1940s and for that reason I like The Fighting Kentuckian and Wake of the Red Wich.

Best Regards

Arthur