kingdom

Is that a stone under the seat?

This is amazing: King Edward's Chair, sometimes known as St Edward's Chair or The Coronation Chair, is the throne on which the British monarch sits for the coronation. It was commissioned in 1296 by King Edward I to contain the coronation stone of Scotland — known as the Stone of Scone — which he had captured from the Scots who had kept it at Scone Abbey. The chair was named after England's only canonized king, Edward the Confessor, and was kept in his shrine of St Edward's Chapel at Westminster Abbey. This article can be found at: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King_Edward's_Chair

Yes, amazing. Nowadays, the Stone of Scone is no longer there, having been repatriated to Scotland: www.royal.gov.uk/output/page2015.asp The rest of the chair can be seen in Westminster Abbey, and will surely feature during the next Coronation.

Returned to Scotland in 1996. And if you think it will be returned to England for the next Coronation ... hmm...

Nah, I didn't mean the Stone of Scone, I meant that the chair will be used for the Coronation.

What a fabulous old picture. Thank you for sharing and making this picture available to all who are interested in things nautical.

It's a pleasure. I'm glad you're enjoying the photographs

Thanks for sharing these - they are great to see. I note a big difference in the geometry of the inboard and outboard props - is that because the shafts ran at different speeds?

Mauretania's trials of 1907 recorded shaft revolutions of between 123 per minute at 18.32 knots and 192 per minute at 26.17 knots with no indication that the speeds varied from shaft to shaft. However even at the trials stage Cunard and Swan Hunter & Wigham Richardson found that they were having vibration problems with Mauretania's 3 bladed propellers. These were later replaced with 4 bladed propellers. As far as I understand it all four propellers where changed and I suspect that this photograph was taken part way through the process. You can see that the two outboard propellers have 4 blades and the two inboard ones have three. If you look at the starboard inboard propeller you can see that it appears to have been nibbled! I would suggest that replacement with a 4 bladed type is imminent. However most of our reference material is concerned with the building of the ship at Wallsend so if anybody out there can suggest a different explanation I would be delighted to see it added.

I should mention that the response above came from our Keeper of Maritime History

From Wikipedia: At the end of her cable-laying career [1878] she was refitted once again as a liner but once again efforts to make her a commercial success failed. She was used as a showboat, a floating palace/concert hall and gymnasium. She acted as an advertising hoarding—sailing up and down the Mersey for Lewis's Department Store, who at this point were her owners, before being sold. The idea was to attract people to the store by using her as a floating visitor attraction. By the time she was sold piecemeal at auction in 1888 she had become an embarrassment.

Thank you for the photo. So sad to see her in that state.

From PortCities : Eventually, in 1885, the unwanted hulk was hired by Lewis's department store in Liverpool. The store wanted to use her as a music hall, fun fair and a giant advertising billboard. The tired old screw engines were coaxed into powering the ship to the River Mersey, where it was opened to the public at a shilling (5 pence) a head. After exhibition trips to Dublin and the River Clyde, which did not make much money at all, the Great Eastern returned to the River Mersey in 1888.

great photo and unusual end use!

From History of the Atlantic Cable & Undersea Communications : By the time the Great Eastern reached Liverpool the port side facing Birkenhead carried the slogan ‘LADIES SHOULD VISIT LEWIS’S BON MARCHE CHURCH STREET’, while on the starboard side facing Liverpool: Towards the stern: LEWIS’S ARE THE FRIENDS OF THE PEOPLE Lewis’s name was painted in 30 feet high letters. Towards the bows: RANELAGH STREET LEWIS’S BON MARCHE LIVERPOOL BASNETT STREET MANCHESTER, SHEFFIELD, BIRMINGHAM On the paddle box: THE BON MARCHE LIVERPOOL