Restoration begins for famous Clyde-built Queen Mary
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Charity Friends of TS Queen Mary rescued the ship from almost certain demise after she was found languishing in a dockyard on the Thames Estuary, several years after serving as a floating bar and restaurant in London.
Remarkably, the 1930s Clyde-built steamship was given a clean bill of health when she was inspected in dry-dock last month.
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Hide AdThe inspection highlighted just minor repair work required on the hull, a testament to the skills and engineering talent of Glasgow’s shipbuilders.
In the last three weeks, her hull has been stripped down, carefully coated and repainted in a bright white, deep black and red three-tone traditional colour-scheme. Over the weekend the ‘Queen Mary’ name was carefully hand-painted onto the ship’s sides once again.
Charity trustee Iain Sim said: “To think just six months ago Queen Mary was languishing on the Thames and now she’s been stripped down, carefully inspected, protected with a specialist coating and repainted. She looks bonnie, spectacular, just cracking. Specialists from Dales Marine and paint manufacturers AkzoNobel and Jotun have done a great job.
“Despite all this work, there’s still a tremendous amount to be done inside before she can be reopened as an interactive exhibitition and an arts and culture venue. That said, this is a fantastic milestone and we’ve demonstrated just what can be done.
“We’re very grateful to people and businesses across the country for their support and donations — every penny counts in our quest to raise £2 million to restore this wonderful piece of Scottish heritage.”
The £2 million fundraising campaign was launched in June by the charity’s patron, Scots actor Robbie Coltrane OBE. The charity has raised £300,000 towards its target so far, enabling this first phase of work.
For more information and to donate to the charity’s campaign, search for Friends of TS Queen Mary.
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