A liner floats in the sky above a building in Birkenhead which stands on the junction of two roads
and is named after the Queens who are the Cunard liners. These are not their modern cruise ships whose design looks like a human container ship but the iconic lines of the Queens from the 1930s who vied with other vessels to make the fastest crossing of the Atlantic from Southampton to New York.
The building is a pub and hotel owned by Admiral Taverns (continuing the nautical theme). I'm assuming the name is related to the fact that Cunard headquarters were originally in Liverpool and their beautiful old building forms one of the 'Three Graces' on the city's waterfront. The Queens however is tucked away on the other side of the Mersey by Birkenhead Park. In the early afternoon on an April day the area seemed quite deserted, maybe the chill and grey skies had something to do with it.
To make up for the lack of activity on the photograph here is an interior shot of the Queen Mary (the first of the Queens), being fitted out on Clydeside in Art Deco style in about 1935. (The photographer is
Yevonde Middleton (Madam Yevonde) a pioneer of colour photographer)
The joiners are busy behind the bar. The two 'customers' may have a long wait for any liquid refreshment.
An entry to ABC Wednesday, a journey through the alphabet, this week sojourning at Q
here
8 comments:
What a wonderful building...and nice entry about it. Good choice for this weeks letter.
Have a nice abc-day/-week
♫ M e l ☺ d y ♫ (abc-w-team)
I had a queen too!
ROG, ABCW
incredible.
Great chhoice for Q - those QWueens were wonderful liners.
Must be a nice pub !
Gattina
ABC Team
http://gattina-keyholepictures.blogspot.com/
Back in the late 1950s, I had a teacher who had crossed the Atlantic on the Queen Mary. She was a wonderful teacher! Thanks for reminding me of her.
I didn't know they were from the 1930s. Now I need to know what the names were of the other Queens. :-)
The View from the Top of the Ladder
I love those great royal looking ships. We used to have " The New Amsterdam" , the ship that
took us from Singapore to The Netherlands in December 1945.
Wil, ABCW Team.
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