Sting’s The Last Ship — A Musical of Love and Loss in a Tyneside Shipyard

Just over a year ago, I was surprised — shocked might be a better word — to hear of a play about a shipyard. The Boat Factory was set in Harland & Wolff of Belfast, the shipyardyard that built theTitanic as well as roughly 1,700 … Continue reading

HMS Ark Royal on her Final Voyage Home

Thirty years ago HMS Ark Royal was built on the River Tyne at the Swan Hunter shipyard.  Last Friday, she sailed home for the last time to be decommissioned and ultimately scrapped.  As she moved up river, spectators said their final goodbyes to … Continue reading