Ship Spotter Steve
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LITTLE MILL, ROWARTH, 1781

29/2/2016

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Little Mill in Rowarth photographed on 14 February 2016.
 
Rowarth is a tiny village located near New Mills in the North West of the Peak District.
 
The mill was built in 1781 and is now a pub, power for the mill was provided by the stream running by the side of the building which drove the waterwheel. The wheel photographed is a replacement for the original which was destroyed during a great flood in 1930.
 
We parked near the pub and did a circuitous walk along footpaths and bridleways walking up into the hills before heading back down into the village as the sun was starting to set, after a drink in the pub we headed home.
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QUEEN VICTORIA

26/2/2016

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Queen Victoria photographed in Southampton on 25 October 2014.
 
She is a Vista Class cruise ship, built in Italy she is 294m long with a 32.3m beam and 8m draft.
 
Her keel was laid on 12 May 2006 and 80 prefabricated sections each weighing approximately 325 tons were then installed, The completed superstructure was floated out on 15 January 2007 and she commenced sea trials on 24 August 2007 before being formally named in Southampton on 7 December 2007 just before her maiden voyage on 11 December 2007.
 
She has Sulzer ZA40 diesel engines (63,400kW) driving two ABB Azipods (16.7 MW) giving a maximum speed of 23.7 knots and a service speed of 18 knots.
 
Passenger capacity is 2,014 with 900 crew.
 
MMSI - 235059053
REG - BS, Hamilton
IMO - 9320556
Call Sign -  ZCEF3
Passenger Cruise Ship
Built - Breda, Marghera, IT
Yard No. - 6127
L 294m  W 32m
GT 90049
Year - 2007
Southampton, 25 October 2014
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WYNDHAM

24/2/2016

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Catamaran party boat Wyndham photographed on the River Thames on 8 February 2016.

She was built in 1981 and was previously operated by Falmouth Leisure Cruises as Twinstar III operating day cruises to Trelissick Gardens & Smugglers Cottage.

The vessel was laid up in 2008 and subsequently bought in 2009 by Thanes Executive Charters who renamed her after a complete refurbishment Wyndham Grand. Refurbished again in 2015 she has now been named Wyndham and operates as a party boat on the river. Licensed to carry 120 people she is 19m long with a 5m beam and has no fixed seating offering a flexible layout.

She has a fully services galley and can provide seated lunch and dinner for up to 60 people.

As well as a small open area at the front she also has a open top deck that can accommodate 90 people

MMSI - 2351110642
Call Sign - 2IMU7
Photographed, London, 8 February 2016
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DOBSON'S BRIDGE, BOLTON - 1878

22/2/2016

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Dobson's Bridge in Queens Park, Bolton photographed on 13 February 2016.
 
In the mid-18th Century the site of the park was pastureland known as Spa Fields. Originally known as Bolton Park the name was changed to honour Queen Victoria's Jubilee. The park was constructed not only to enhance the town but to relieve unemployment caused by the lack of raw cotton due to the American Civil War. The site was bought after a review of possible locations around the town and in September 1864 William Henderson a landscaper from Birkenhead was appointed to prepare plans and to supervise the work.
 
Work commenced later in 1864 and the park was formally opened on 24 May 1865 by Lord Bradford, the opening  was attended by an estimated 20,000 people, business throughout the town was suspended and there was a holiday atmosphere, a prominent feature of the days celebration being a public procession that started in the town centre.
 
In 1875 an additional area of land was acquired South of the River Croal and the park was extended.
 
The bridge photographed was constructed to connect this land to the existing park and provide better pedestrian links with the town centre. The bridge was officially opened in 1878 by B.A.Dobson who was at the time Chairman of the Park Committee. The bridge is constructed from lattice beams, cast iron and stone and has recently been restored back to its original condition after being closed due to safety concerns.
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INDEPENDENCE OF THE SEAS

19/2/2016

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Independence of the Seas photographed in Southampton on 25 October 2014.
 
She is a Freedom Class cruise ship operated by Royal Caribbean and entered service in April 2008.
 
In 2013 she had a $7m refurbishment which added a new restaurant and cafe and new features including an outdoor cinema screen.
 
Built in Turku, Finland by Aker as Yard Number 1354 she can accommodate 4,370 passengers and 1,360 crew.
 
Propulsion consists of six diesel engines which can supply 75,000kW of power to two ABB Azipods and one Fixipod (14MW each) giving a maximum speed of 23 Knots and a cruising speed of 21.6 Knots.
 
MMSI - 309374000
REG - BS, Nassau
IMO - 9349681
Call Sign -  C6WW4
Passenger Cruise Ship
Built - Aker Yards, Turku, FI
Yard No. - 1354
L 339m  W 38m
GT 154407
Year - 2008
Southampton, 25 October 2014
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NEW LONDON BRIDGE COPINGS - 1831

17/2/2016

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Stone copings photographed on 9 February 2016 during my evening walk from my hotel near Tower Hill.

They were originally part of New London Bridge which replaced the old London Bridge in 1831.

Old London Bridge was narrow and decrepit which is not really surprising when you consider it was over 600 years old. New London Bridge was built 30m West of the original bridge and after a design competition in 1799 work began in 1824 and the bridge was opened on 1 August 1831 by Kind William IV and Queen Adelaide. Old London Bridge was subsequently demolished.

The bridge was 283m long and 15m wide and was constructed from Haytor Granite from Dartmoor. The East side of the bridge was in the 20th Century noted as starting to sink and in 1967 the bridge was sold for $2.46m to America Entrepreneur Robert P McCulloch and removed stone by stone and re-erected in Lake Havasu in the USA. These two copings were unearthed on the South side of the bridge during construction work for a sculpture. They are now used as low seats.
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TOWER HILL MEMORIAL - 1928

15/2/2016

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Tower Hill Memorial photographed on 9 February 2016.
 
I took the picture during my lunch break when I had a walk in the sun from the hotel where the two day course I was on was being held down to the river.  
 
The memorial commemorates the men and women of the Merchant Navy and Fishing Fleets who died in both World Wars and who have no known grave, it stands on the South side of the garden of Trinity Square close to the Tower of London.
 
The building photographed is the memorial to those lost in the First World War and was designed by Sir Edwin Luytens and unveiled by Queen Mary on 12 December 1928.
 
In total almost 12,000 First World War casualties are remembered.
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HMS BELFAST (C35)

11/2/2016

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HMS Belfast photographed in London on 8 February 2016.

I was staying in a hotel on the North side of the River Thames for a two day course and took this photograph during an after dinner walk across Tower Bridge and along the river front.

She is one of ten Town Class Light Cruisers and was built by Harland & Wolff in Belfast as Yard Number 1000. Construction work started in December 1936 and she was launched in March 1938 by Anne Chamberlain wife of the Prime Minister before being commissioned in August 1939.

The Town Class originated in 1933 as a response to the Imperial Japanese Navy's Mogami Class Cruiser. The Admiralty requirement was for a 9000 ton cruiser, sufficiently armoured to take a direct hit from an 8-Inch shell, capable of 32 knots ,mounting twelve 6 Inch guns, capable of its own air defence and carrying a seaplane to ensure shipping lanes to be patrolled over a wide area.

HMS Belfast is of the Second Town Class dating to 1935 which had improved firepower in triple turrets and thicker deck armour.

Originally she was 187m long with a 19.3m beam and 5.3m draft. She was propelled by three drum fired water tube boilers, turning Parsons steam turbines, driving four propeller shafts. She had a maximum range of over 8600 nautical miles at 13 Knots and a top speed of 32.5 Knots.

Her armament originally consisted of twelve Mark XXIII 6 Inch guns in four triple turrets, secondary armament included twelve 4 Inch guns in six twin mounts and sixteen 2 Pounders in two eight barrel mountings for air defence in addition to two quadruple 0.50 inch machine guns. Belfast was also equipped with six MK IV 6 Inch torpedo tubes and Mark VII depth charges.

Her main armour belt was 110mm thick with 76mm thick armour on deck, the armour on her main turrets is 100mm thick.

In November 1939 she struck a German mine and spent two years undergoing extensive repairs, returning to active service in November 1942 with improved firepower, radar equipment and armour she saw service escorting Arctic convoys to Russia and played a role in the Battle of North Cape assisting in the destruction of the German warship Scharnhorst. In 1944 she took part in Operation Overlord supporting the Normandy Landings. In June 1945 she was redeployed to the Far East to join the British Pacific Fleet and saw action in 1950-1952 during the Korean War.

Extensively modernised between 1956 and 1959 she served for a number of years before entering the reserve in 1963.

She is now a museum ship.
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St.Peter's Church, Stockport - 1768

8/2/2016

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On the 4 February 2016 I was in Stockport with work, after a morning meeting at the Town Hall I headed back to the car via a sandwich shop and took this photograph on the way.
 
St.Peter's Church was built in 1768 at sole expense of William Wright of Mottram Hall who was Lord of the Manor of Offerton and Mottram St Andrew, he had a town house nearby and built this as a chapel of ease. The church was built on open ground on the outskirts of the old town.
 
The building is built of brick in Flemish bond with rubbed brick and stone dressings, it has a slate roof and a square tower with an octagonal bell turret with a copper roof, the tower has a single bell dated 1768.
 
Although the original plan of the church was rectangular the church has had a number of modifications over the years including a west gallery which was constructed in 1782, side galleries were built in 1838 and a 1880 phase which added a larger chancel and removed the 1838 side galleries. Low vestry blocks were also added in about 1920.

The church nave contains the 1769 chair frame clock formerly in the bell tower, now restored to working order it is claimed that this is the oldest working public clock in Greater Manchester. It was installed just after the church opened in 1769 and was made by John Whitehurst (1713-1788) of Derby.
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FUNNEL - SNOW SHIPPING

5/2/2016

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Snow Shipping PTE Ltd was founded in 1993 and are based in Singapore.

Photograph taken at Fawley on 11 April 2015, vessel is the LPG Tanker Kazak, (IMO 9739549, GT 7891, 2014).
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    My interest in ships and the sea started back in 2006 when I worked for a couple of years  on the banks of the River Mersey. I have since been on a couple of cruises around the Med and in the Far East and have started to take more interest in researching and photographing some of the ships and other vessels seen on my travels.

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