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Adelaide's living link supports Sunderland's claim
A living piece of Wearside's maritime history has come home.
Pam Whittle's great-grandfather was captain of the Sunderland-built clipper City of Adelaide when she made her maiden voyage down under.
And now Pam is backing the campaign to bring the ship home.
Eighty-one-year-old Pam is in the North East from her home in Adelaide to visit family in Newcastle.
She took time out to visit Sunderland Museum and Winter Gardens, where she came face to face with a bust of William Pile, whose North Sands yard built the City of Adelaide in 1864.
Pam's great-grandfather David Bruce was born and bred in Perth, Scotland, but uprooted his gamily and moved to Newcastle to be near the shipyards.
A part-owner of the City of Adelaide, he made several trips from the UK to Australia and then handed the ship over to his son John, who was succeeded in turn by Pam's grandfather Alexander Bruce – John's brother.
The Adelaide is now part of the Scottish Maritime Museum's collection, but the museum's trustees need to get the ship off their hands – it sits on a rented slipway, the owner wants its land back and the museum cannot pay the rent.
The museum is planning to take the clipper to pieces, but has said it would prefer to keep it intact if a viable option for saving it can be found.
The Sunderland City of Adelaide Foundation (Scarf) is campaigning to bring the ship home and restore her.
Pam is in no doubt that the vessel belongs on Wearside – despite the claims of her own home city in Australia.
"I give talks on the clipper and have done for 20 or 30 years," she said.
"I have said for many years that if anything happened and she could not stay where she was, I would like her to go to Sunderland.
"Many people can't understand why I would not want her to go to Adelaide, but getting her there would be the most horrendous journey.
"The ship must come first."
Pam is lucky enough to have slept aboard the clipper.
She and her husband spent two nights aboard the City of Adelaide during a visit in 1988.
"I could almost sense my grandfather and great-grandfather watching over me," she said.
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Weather for Sunderland
Wednesday 08 February 2012
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