Bob Cawley
Bob belongs to: The Fishermen's Mission
Bob was born in North Shields. He has worked in the Royal Navy, merchant navy and steam trawlers. Bob is retired and spends his time painting.
Bob was interviewed by Kylea Little on 8 November 2005. The interview took place at North Shields Fishermen's Mission and lasted 52 minutes and 23 seconds.

Swimming under the ice store
"Well, the old ice store that was here, it was steam driven stuff and everything and hot water coming from the boilers was discharged through a pipe down into the, underneath the quay"
Well, the old ice store that was here, it was steam driven stuff and everything and hot water coming from the boilers was discharged through a pipe down into the, underneath the quay, where all the timbers formed a square and the supports for the upright timbers that supported the quay- it was like a little swimming pool underneath, but deep water, to the river bed. But that water was hotter than the other stuff and warm, and kids used to get under there and just leave their clothes on the beams and dive in and swim around in there because it was lovely and hot. And they didn’t have bathrooms, you know, in them days. Your mum, when your mother did the washing, you had to get in the tub after she had finished, you know, as kids getting ready for school and things like that. But that was a little bit of an adventure and it cleaned you up as well.
Bob has 15 memories in the memorynet:
Bob's memories with a Change theme:
Life after the Royal Navy
Joining the trawlers as a cook
The merchant navy and St. Elmo's Fire
The smell of the smoke houses
Bob's other memories:
Joining the Royal Navy
Manning the guns
Landing the catch on North Shields Fish Quay
Swimming under the ice store
Taking a break on the Suez Canal
Continuous Certificate of Discharge 2
Bob Cawley at San Domingo
Continuous Certificate of Discharge 1
Individual Certificate
Continuous Certificate of Discharge 3
Painting of Trawler and North Shields Fish Quay
This memory has these themes:
Adventure | Childhood | The North East

Use this form to add your comment to the memorynet: