Launch Day

“An overcast sky and fine drizzle greet the chosen dignitaries who will witness the launching ceremony of a new ship. As they arrive the brass band fires up with a jaunty selection of sea shanties. The band master glares at us, looking for some appreciation of the band’s effort. “Some of the cloth-capped shipyard workers in the foreground give us a furtive look, there seems to be an atmosphere of unrest! Maybe a strike is brewing, few pay much attention to the pending ceremony or the arrival of the distinguished guests. “A lone photographer tries to line up a group shot of the VIPs. The woman to his left glares with more than a tittle envy at the shipyard owner’s wife, with an expensive fox stole draped over her shoulders, which also holds the attention of the little terrier. The bowler-hatted yard owner carries the champagne bottle draped with red, white and blue ribbons, which will be smashed against the hull of his latest ship, sending it down the slipway to be fitted out before beginning its life sailing the oceans of the world. “His wife seems very reluctant to grasp the hand of the elderly veteran worker who, because of his tong service and loyalty to the company, has been given the honour of presenting the bouquet of flowers. He stands in a pool of water, rain drops bouncing off his bald head, anticipating the lady’s gloved hand, white the bored chauffeur looks on, taking time out for a smoke. “The Chief Inspector suspiciously looks at one of the other guests white the vicar stands on an oil drum, presumably to be nearer to his boss, pleading for better weather. “At the rear of the group a lady receives a poke in the eye by the careless handling of an umbrella, white a young lady discovers a deposit on the sole of her expensive shoe. A gift from the little terrier? “In the background the skeletal framework of cranes merge with the rows of terraced houses that almost become part of the shipyard, occupied by the employees and their families.”

Robert Olley