May Meeting Report

Titanic Revisited

Mr Tony Waters gave a lecture last year on “Welsh links to the Titanic”, and he informed the Society that it was his intention to go on the Titanic Memorial Cruise which marked the centenary of the fateful voyage. He kindly agreed to return and tell us of his experiences on the journey, which was a birthday present from his wife.

The voyage took place on the Balmoral, a smaller ship than the Titanic but carried exactly the same number of passengers. The intention was also to follow the exact route of the Titanic and to rendezvous at exactly the right time at the sinking site. Mr Waters gave a vivid illustrated narration of the voyage and showed how uncannily the Balmoral suffered some of the same problems as the Titanic in terms of delays and having to make up time – though thankfully, unlike the Titanic the passengers did reach New York safely this time!

The experience on board ship was a fascinating melange of education, role playing and gaining nuggets of information from the unique assemblage of characters all of which had some connection to the ill-fated ship. The voyage was also peppered with period formal dinners and lectures. Actors kept in character throughout which apparently was rather confusing at times.Mr Waters as usual managed to find Welsh connections aplenty in that the memorial service was conducted by a Welsh minister and “Nearer My God to Thee” was performed by a Welsh tenor.

Mr Gwyn Thomas thanked Mr Waters for a superb evening’s entertainment since like the Titanic it had gone down well!

The Society will now take a short break over the summer and we will meet again in the AGM on September 9th. Contrary to the announcement in the May Meeting it now appears that work will not be commencing on the church hall and therefore we will not have to change our regular venue in the short term.

[ Apologies for this report appearing rather later and briefer than usual - Ed.]