Joined Shaw Savill in June 1967, after working 5 years with the British Linen Bank in Rutherglen Glasgow, and worked in the Haymarket Passenger Office, dealing with passenger bookings for travel to South Africa, Australia and New Zealand. Our job including dealing directly with customer bookings, berthings and restaurant table reservations, as well as obtaining passport details. In these days many single young people on their big OE travelled by ship to the other side of the world, and from their passport details, we had to match them with other fellow travellers to share 4 or 6 berth cabins, male and female separately!

Worked by both Southern Cross and Northern Star when they returned to Southampton, preparing the ship for the next round the world voyage, in these days 4 times a year.

My first deep sea voyage began on 7th December 1967, as a junior purser, one of 8 staff in the Pursers Office, Purser, Deputy, First, Second, two juniors and two female assistant pursers, and in addition two writers, one who was responsible for all the mail inwards and outwards, and worked independently in the Mail Room. The other was responsible for preparing crew manifests from the information in their discharge books (seaman's passport)

Two juniors and Second Purser were responsible for dealing with all passenger enquiries of the 1100 passengers aboard, also dealing with complaints "aircon too cold', 'cabin mate snores too loudly' and many other problems, perhaps the worst was the senior who had flushed their false teeth down the toilet, and we had to get the plumber to search for them !!!

Ah ! well - this was just the start of my career as a young purser with the Shaw Savill Line!

.