She's leaving home

by Johnny Bull
January 6th, 2009

Queen Elizabeth ll, or The QE2 (an abbreviation that was as snappy and modern as the decade that she was launched in), has now gone to Dubai.
She left last night amidst a blaze of fireworks, intense old style harbour activity.

Victorian, even.

The dark water was chopped up by quiet, busy tugs slowly and sombrely pulling the last of the proper liners to her retirement and death. A bit of a Turner moment, really: certainly from the photo one’s reminded of Whistler’s pot of paint that got poor old Ruskin so mad.

These were ships designed to sail properly, before accountants started muscling in on naval architecture and making cruise liners into floating malls.

It was jolly, though, even though we knew that we’d never see her again: I remembered catching sight of her sailing up The Solent for the first time (I was on a paddle steamer, commuting to Portsmouth Art School) the crowds gathered at the rail and someone behind me said. “Bit of a waste of money. The age of the liner is dead and gone.”