RMS Strathmore - A Time When Mail Was Transported By Ship

byEdwinBernard

9.2K followers

Updated 2 years ago

In the days of instant message delivery via email, there was a time when mail was delivered by ship! When I was a boy I sailed on a ship called the RMS Stratmnore from Bombay to Tilbury, England. The RMS stood for Royal Mail Ship because it carried mail to England as well as passengers.

The journey took two weeks via the Suez Canal. Although this vessel was originally designed as a two-class ship, First and Tourist, it was reconfigured to be all tourist class.

When it was launched in 1935, it was considered one of the most luxurious ships built. I'd like to share pictures of the interior of the RMS Strathmore with you. You can also read details of this ship at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RMS_Strathmore

Life On Board

When my family emigrated to England in 1962, it was cheaper to sail on a two-week cruise compare to air travel The Boeing 707 had only recently started to fly. Hard to believe today, right?

What was life on board an ocean liner back then? The ship carried 1200 passengers so a great many activities were arranged for the passengers. Such as deck games, dances, and talent shows.

I was a mid-teen then and competed in the talent show playing the piano. The majority of passengers were British and Australian as only a smattering were from India, You should have seen the surprised look from those in attendance when they saw a little Indian boy perform.

Guess what. I won! The audience preferred seeing me play rock and roll compared to adults who sang popular songs. I was in my element!

Ports Of Call

Our first port of call was Aden. My mother bought me my first transistor radio there. Aden was a quiet city then.

One of the tours offered was to visit the pyramids of Giza. Passengers were dropped off before the ship entered the Suez Canal and picked up the next day at Port Said. Sadly our family couldn't afford this tour so we stayed on board.

The experience of saying through the Suez Canal was an amazing experience. The sides of the canal seemed so close to the ship. A special captain took charge of this part of the journey to guide the ship carefully through it.

Port Said was an experience to behold. As soon as the ship docked, throngs of hawkers in small boats hugged the side of the Strathmore. They sold their wares using ropes that they hooked onto the deck railings. Some even scaled the ship and set up shop on the decks themselves. Can you imagine such a thing happening today? Not on your life!

Since the purpose of this ship was to transport passengers, we sailed across the Mediterranean non-stop. The next stop was at Lisbon, on the Bay of Biscay.

Rough Seas

When we resumed our voyage to England through the Bay of Biscay, we hit a storm. I can still visualize the ship not only rocking from the bow to stern, but also from port to starboard. As I sat in the lounge, the horizon at the side of the boat went from high to low.

Compared to today's monsters, our ship was like a dinghy at just under 23,000 tons. Although it could handle rough seas safely, that didn't mean it would stay steady.

Very few people went to the dining room. We did. Coming from India, we loved the meals provided and didn't want to miss a thing. To prevent the plates from sliding over the edges of the tables, there were ledges at the edges that were unfolded for this purpose. It was a challenge eating the consomme of beef!

The bathrooms were visited frequently by passengers feeling sick Only the expensive cabins had their own bathrooms. The rest of us had to use large, shared facilities.

I found it fun walking through the corridors bouncing from one wall to the other!

The storm was an experience I would never forget. Fortunately, the Bay of Biscay was the only occasion we had rough seas.

Arrival At Tilbury

The days when passenger ships docked in London had long since passed. Tilbury was a port located at the mouth of the River Thames.

Going through customs was another experience to behold. My grandmother smoked the hookah. She had packed not only several hookahs in her baggage but also the tobacco paste she used to smoke! We had quite a bit of explaining to do. Fortunately, they let us take everything in.

The Drive To Poplar

My dad who had sailed to England a year earlier rented an apartment temporarily on East India Dock Road in Poplar. If anyone here watched the British TV series Call The Midwife, will get a flavor of the place we stayed in.

Within a month, my dad had bought a home in another, more upscale part of London close to where the 2012 Olympics were held. Guess what the price for that three-bedroom home with a kitchen and one bathroom cost?

$7000!!! Today it is valued at $700,000!

What's The Affiliate Marketing Connection?

Back then there was no such thing as affiliate marketing. Heck, it would have taken a large building to house a computer with the power of your iPhone today. It would have been impractical to even have a business model like affiliate marketing work.

But today, we can have niches in travel, cruising, accommodations like hotels, resorts, Airbnb, and communication. All these things are related to affiliate marketing today. Who would have thought back then in 1962 what our world would have evolved to today

What About Poplar Today?

And Poplar? That area of London that used to be a low-income area is now one of the prime hot spots of East London! Art and great restaurants are the focus.

And The RMS Strathmore?

It was sold to a Greek Tycoon to be used as a cruise ship in 1963. It was scrapped in Italy in 1969.34 years is a long lifetime for any ship. The memories live on.

I hope you enjoyed this tale of the role the RMS Strathmore had in my life.

Cheers.

Edwin