How QE2 shipyard workers made a splash
SHE was the epitome of glitz and glamour, allowing her A-list passengers to cruise the oceans in style.
But shipyard workers who built her also got their chance to test the plush services on board the magnificent QE2 liner.
A remarkable collection of images reveals what life was like on board the vessel after it first left the Clyde in Glasgow half a century ago – and provide a tantalising glimpse of a bygone age.
Colour promotional shots feature welldressed couples wining and dining, while black and white images show workers having fun in the swimming pool as they tested the luxury facilities.
They form part of an exhibition which opens today at Glasgow School of Art. It also features photographs of the QE2’s launch in 1967 from John Brown’s shipyard in Clydebank.
Professor Bruce Peter, who has curated the exhibition, said the colour shots would have been used for brochures and may have featured Cunard staff. The black and white photographs were placed in press packs sent to newspapers. He said: ‘In one of the photos on the deck you can actually see beer bottles and cigarette ends littered around; slightly different from the champagne corks you might see on other cruise ships. They were certainly different from the usual clientele.’
The QE2 crossed the Atlantic more than 800 times and carried 2.5million passengers, including Falklands War troops. Since 2008, she has been docked in Dubai.