Peter Maddison of the Sunderland City of Adelaide Recovery Foundation (SCARF) speaks to Gary Brown of Island 92. The interview was part of Gary's 'Yachtblast' show which was broadcast in January.
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Wednesday, 24 February 2010
Press letter: Time is running out
I READ with interest recently how the City of Nottingham is to benefit from a new Art Gallery costing £20million, a significant amount of which, I understand, has been paid for by the local authority.
Come on City of Sunderland have you not heard of the Bilbao effect? The Glass Centre, despite its attributes, has not succeeded in giving Sunderland the Bilbao effect. Everybody except the local authority seems to think the City of Adelaide has such a capability.
We are told a mere £5000,000 loan by the local authority would enable the ship to be brought to the Wear. I have personally pledged £250. I will double my pledge if the City of Sunderland provides a loan. Come on, time is running out.
Geoff Pearson, Sunderland
Come on City of Sunderland have you not heard of the Bilbao effect? The Glass Centre, despite its attributes, has not succeeded in giving Sunderland the Bilbao effect. Everybody except the local authority seems to think the City of Adelaide has such a capability.
We are told a mere £5000,000 loan by the local authority would enable the ship to be brought to the Wear. I have personally pledged £250. I will double my pledge if the City of Sunderland provides a loan. Come on, time is running out.
Geoff Pearson, Sunderland
Press letter: Buy Adelaide CD
I HAD the pleasure of being at the first official airing of the Adelaide song at Paddy Whacks pub in Sunderland City Centre recently.
What a tremendous night it was and all for a very good cause. I really hope this song galvanises the Adelaide campaign, and having talked to Scarf leader and Sunderland Independent Councillor Peter Maddison on that memorable night in Green Terrace, I was left in no doubt as to the importance of the Wearside icon coming home.
What I fail to understand is why other local politicians do not back this historic campaign. Why are there question not being asked at a higher level about the massive funding of the Cutty Sark ship while the Adelaide is completely neglected or maybe as the Cutty Sark is London based then the north-south divide rears its ugly head once again?
Fair play to the Echo for putting the Adelaide song on the Echo website and I look forward to seeing the performance of the song again on the forthcoming BBC documentary about the Adelaide.
I would urge everyone who cares about Sunderland to buy the Adelaide CD and by doing so play a part in bringing the Adelaide ship back to its rightful place on the Wear.
Tom Harvey, Sunderland
What a tremendous night it was and all for a very good cause. I really hope this song galvanises the Adelaide campaign, and having talked to Scarf leader and Sunderland Independent Councillor Peter Maddison on that memorable night in Green Terrace, I was left in no doubt as to the importance of the Wearside icon coming home.
What I fail to understand is why other local politicians do not back this historic campaign. Why are there question not being asked at a higher level about the massive funding of the Cutty Sark ship while the Adelaide is completely neglected or maybe as the Cutty Sark is London based then the north-south divide rears its ugly head once again?
Fair play to the Echo for putting the Adelaide song on the Echo website and I look forward to seeing the performance of the song again on the forthcoming BBC documentary about the Adelaide.
I would urge everyone who cares about Sunderland to buy the Adelaide CD and by doing so play a part in bringing the Adelaide ship back to its rightful place on the Wear.
Tom Harvey, Sunderland
Press letter: Give Sunderland back its soul
I AM Sunderland born and bred, and have only just become aware of the sad plight of the City of Adelaide, a clipper built in Sunderland in 1864 and which in 1992 was declared part of the UK National Historic Ships Core Collection.
My family has roots going back many generations in Sunderland, and I lived there until 1985.
My heart goes out to the group Scarf, Sunderland City of Adelaide Rescue Foundation, and in particular Peter Maddison and his supporters who are trying so hard to prevent the destruction of part of Great Britain's heritage which was born out of Sunderland – the greatest shipbuilding town the world has seen.
I sadly, am one of thousands of people who witnessed part of Sunderland dying as a result of the shipbuilding industry disappearing from the Wear. I am passionately heartbroken about the effect this had on a city which was built around, and gained worldwide acclaim for the ships which were built in the shipyards on the Wear.
I have a particular interest and passion, as I spent time working in the Doxford shipbuilding yards at Pallion, Deptford and North Sands. I worked for almost 20 years as a PA in the industry.
When I first began work at Pallion, the offices were a picture of Victorian elegance, with the scaled models of past ships standing in ornate glass cabinets, one, a model of the HMS Victory, had been made by prisoners of war, and every piece had been honed and sculpted from pieces of bone. I remained there until I was made redundant.
I have eerily poignant pictures in my mind of the first launch I attended in 1971, hearing the chocks being knocked away, the noise of the chains being dragged, and the clouds of rusted dust billowing as the ship slipped into its new home, the beckoning river.
I am sure that I will be only one of an army of Sunderland people, who felt the heart was cut out of Sunderland with the shipyard closures and the effect this had.
Surely now is the time to put the soul back into Sunderland – the return of the City of Adelaide to its birthplace would achieve this.
I believe March 31 is the deadline. The City of Adelaide is the oldest clipper in the world – what an accolade – this clipper, once restored, could be the "Cutty Sark of the North". The revenue and tourism this would bring would be permanent and lucrative.
Margaret Snowdon
My family has roots going back many generations in Sunderland, and I lived there until 1985.
My heart goes out to the group Scarf, Sunderland City of Adelaide Rescue Foundation, and in particular Peter Maddison and his supporters who are trying so hard to prevent the destruction of part of Great Britain's heritage which was born out of Sunderland – the greatest shipbuilding town the world has seen.
I sadly, am one of thousands of people who witnessed part of Sunderland dying as a result of the shipbuilding industry disappearing from the Wear. I am passionately heartbroken about the effect this had on a city which was built around, and gained worldwide acclaim for the ships which were built in the shipyards on the Wear.
I have a particular interest and passion, as I spent time working in the Doxford shipbuilding yards at Pallion, Deptford and North Sands. I worked for almost 20 years as a PA in the industry.
When I first began work at Pallion, the offices were a picture of Victorian elegance, with the scaled models of past ships standing in ornate glass cabinets, one, a model of the HMS Victory, had been made by prisoners of war, and every piece had been honed and sculpted from pieces of bone. I remained there until I was made redundant.
I have eerily poignant pictures in my mind of the first launch I attended in 1971, hearing the chocks being knocked away, the noise of the chains being dragged, and the clouds of rusted dust billowing as the ship slipped into its new home, the beckoning river.
I am sure that I will be only one of an army of Sunderland people, who felt the heart was cut out of Sunderland with the shipyard closures and the effect this had.
Surely now is the time to put the soul back into Sunderland – the return of the City of Adelaide to its birthplace would achieve this.
I believe March 31 is the deadline. The City of Adelaide is the oldest clipper in the world – what an accolade – this clipper, once restored, could be the "Cutty Sark of the North". The revenue and tourism this would bring would be permanent and lucrative.
Margaret Snowdon
Press letter: Let's bring the City of Adelaide home
I WAS lucky enough to be present at a heaving paddywacks pub in Sunderland city centre to witness the lauch of the City of Adelaide campaign song and a thoroughly enjoyable and memorable night it was.
The emotional Adelaide song was performed superbly by local musicans Paul Jackson and Pete Dodds and an excellent backing band which was being filmed as part of a BBC documentary on the Adelaide.
Talking to Paul Jackson a co-writer of the Adelaide song, I was able to gain an insight into the man's passion for the Adelaide campaign and this passion was was shared by the entusiastic gathering of proud Wearsiders at the special event.
It was interesting looking around the audience and seeing such a cross-section of the Wearside community united as one and together in such a hugely worthwhile cause for Sunderland. A cause, if successful, could help today's families and their children experience the pride of Sunderland's rich shipbuilding history.
To my knowledge there was no local politicans present at this important event other than the staunch passionate Adelaide campaigner Councillor Peter Maddison, and here lies the crux of the matter.
In the main, Sunderland City Council have been very quiet in relation to the Adelaide issue. The silence from the Civic Centre has been deafening about this masively important local debate.
The Australians are also interested in the Adelaide and their local politicans have supported their bid, eg. two local mayors have spoken out in favour of their Adelaide iniative.
If the Sunderland City of Adelaide Recovery Foundation (Scarf) campaign does not achieve its ultimate aim in bringing the Adelaide home to the river Wear then certain Sunderalnd councillors should hold their heads in shame. Let's bring our beauty home despite council indifference.
Tony Ratton, Sunderland
The emotional Adelaide song was performed superbly by local musicans Paul Jackson and Pete Dodds and an excellent backing band which was being filmed as part of a BBC documentary on the Adelaide.
Talking to Paul Jackson a co-writer of the Adelaide song, I was able to gain an insight into the man's passion for the Adelaide campaign and this passion was was shared by the entusiastic gathering of proud Wearsiders at the special event.
It was interesting looking around the audience and seeing such a cross-section of the Wearside community united as one and together in such a hugely worthwhile cause for Sunderland. A cause, if successful, could help today's families and their children experience the pride of Sunderland's rich shipbuilding history.
To my knowledge there was no local politicans present at this important event other than the staunch passionate Adelaide campaigner Councillor Peter Maddison, and here lies the crux of the matter.
In the main, Sunderland City Council have been very quiet in relation to the Adelaide issue. The silence from the Civic Centre has been deafening about this masively important local debate.
The Australians are also interested in the Adelaide and their local politicans have supported their bid, eg. two local mayors have spoken out in favour of their Adelaide iniative.
If the Sunderland City of Adelaide Recovery Foundation (Scarf) campaign does not achieve its ultimate aim in bringing the Adelaide home to the river Wear then certain Sunderalnd councillors should hold their heads in shame. Let's bring our beauty home despite council indifference.
Tony Ratton, Sunderland
Press letter: Help us bring City of Adelaide back home
I FOUND an old photograph of me steering the Anna Kristina up the coast of Norway to the Lofoten Islands and beyond. Happy days!
I'm looking forward to "steering" the City of Adelaide around Cape Wrath and back home to Sunderland.
March the 31st, break up or recovery day is looming.
Scarf is frantically working on completing our recovery/business/sustainability plan to present to the Scottish Government and to others. We all need deadlines to work to or nothing gets done. But we wouldn't mind some help.
If you have a business or an engineering or a creative head please get in touch with me.
The greatest shipbuilding town in the world has got an opportunity to recover one of its own. The Adelaide will bring great pride and meaning back to an empty river.
The Adelaide will create hundreds of training and apprenticeship and business opportunities.
We don't need a great deal of money to recover the ship. We do need to be able to prove that we have the support of the city.
The future of the ship must be sustainable. We have to prove that the ship will be in safe and capable hands when she is back here.
If you have some fire in your belly and love for your home town, please contact me. Let's bring Adelaide home together and prove to the world that we are still capable of doing great things.
Coun Peter Maddison
email: Cllr.peter.maddison@sunderland.gov.uk
Press letter: I'm proud and sad
AFTER reading in the Echo recently and seeing the City of Adelaide song on You Tube it made me both proud to be from Sunderland and disappointed.
As a former shipyard worker, the whole Adelaide idea, to me, is a genuine effort by people with a love of Sunderland, campaigning for the city that they love and support with passion.
On the other hand, the sad lack of support from the majority of those in the comfortable set-up that is Sunderland Civic Centre is a complete disgrace, likewise with the city's MPs and candidates for the forthcoming election.
I have made a pledge to the Adelaide campaign and intend to buy several copies of the Adelaide song CD, some of which I will send to exiled Sunderland shipyard workers who also care passionately about Sunderland's City of Adelaide ship.
Ken Thompson, Sunderland
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