As soon as we arrived in Montréal
View Larger Map we set to clean the holds ready to load grain. Our number three hold had been used to carry several hundred tons of coal and this had been partly used on the way over so our main task now was to clear what remained and clean the hold thoroughly.
As soon as we arrived I had managed to send a letter to my uncle to tell him that we were in Montreal and to my surprise that same afternoon the mate called me out of the hatch and I found him talking to uncle Douglas. He asked the mate if it would be possible for me to come to his office when I finished work and that was arranged. I was really excited at the prospect of all sorts of very basic things such as getting a bath, some good food, and just being in a home again, so that when I knocked off I simply got ready as quickly as possible in case the mate changed his mind. I had not had a haircut since I had left home 5 months or so before and I got someone to cut off enough around my ears so that they showed. I was very long and full of coal dust, but I was so anxious to get going that I had a quick wash- face, ears, and down to the neck- then hands and a few inches of the arm, so that without close inspection on one could see the grime elsewhere.
My uncle's office was situated on Bleury St and was very large. At the time I was not aware that he had an important government position in charge of chemical and pharmaceutical supplies. As soon as I entered his office he said that he had been talking with friends who had told him that the first thing a sailor wanted when he came ashore was a haircut and a bath. Unfortunately he had these in the wrong order because \ we left his office and went straight to a barber shop. As soon as the barber ruffled my hair a cloud of dust arose and the barber, quite unruffled as though this sort of thing happened every day in Montreal's city centre, suggested to my uncle that perhaps a shampoo would be in order. Three shampoos later the barber was ready to proceed with the cutting, while his formerly spotless tiled bench and basin looked as if a mud fight had taken place there.
Once that was over I was taken to my uncles lovely home at 4057 Dorchester St. Even that number was an experience as I am sure that in England we never had house numbers in the thousands, well not in Dorking for sure. I was given a wonderful meal and huge hot bath, and went to bed in a real warm, soft and comfortable bed for the first time since I had left home. I was very lucky as it must have been a weekend and I was allowed off and was taken to the Lorimer family home at Lac Marois, quite a long way west of the city and spent a couple of wonderful days there.
Somehow I had enough money to buy a food parcel at Eatons, a huge store, which I posted home and my uncle and aunt put together another food parcel which I took home with me.
Once the grain was loaded the ship took on several boxed planes which were stowed on deck, and we set out for home again making it without incident.
On this occasion we took our cargo to Ipswich and I was given leave to go home until recalled. Despite our bulk grain cargo being discharged by shovelling it into bags which were then lifted on deck and then poured into a barge alongside, the discharge took only 5 days. I was recalled but on the way back had arranged to meet my brother Geoffrey at the Greenwich college where he was undergoing some training.
When I had first joined my ship in Newcastle I had ordered a uniform and when I arrived home it was waiting for me. I decided to wear it to visit my brother and it was at this time I was mistaken for a porter at Shrewsbury station! That was the first and last time I wore a uniform during my apprenticeship.
It was a very moving experience visiting Geof and staying overnight in his quarters at the College. He took me to dinner in the Great Hall. As we entered I was amazed and frightened by the sight of three rows of tables occupied by naval officers and waited on by white coated WRNS. I pulled back and said something like "I can't go in there" and Geoff said "You've got in more sea time than most of these" and walked me right up up that long hall to a table at the end where the senior officers of the college stat and there I sat with them!
The following day I rejoined my ship and a day later we sailed back to the Tyne eventually berthing at staiths situated above the main city bridges.
It was the habit then to sign off crew as soon as a ship reached its final port leaving just the apprentices to do most of the work often helped by two or three temporary hands.
