Exhibition triggers a boat-load of memories

David Lawrence stands on the QE2 lifeboat which he kept on the drive of his home in Llanharry

- ELEANOR BARLOW

FORMER Cunard staff, guests and the family of a Welsh ex-miner who bought an ocean liner’s lifeboat have come forward with their memories after an appeal to track down the faces featured in an exhibition marking the shipping line’s 185th anniversary.

Images from the cruise line’s past were collected for the Sea of Glamour exhibition, curated by photographer Mary McCartney, which will be launched in Liverpool later this month.

After an appeal to find some of the people shown in the photos, former staff, guests and others got in touch with Cunard to tell their stories.

The exhibition features David Lawrence, pictured standing aboard a lifeboat from the QE2 which he kept on the front drive of his semi-detached home in Llanharry, Rhondda Cynon Taf.

His son Geraint, 47, said he was about four when his father bought the boat, which he named Rhona after his daughter.