Memories of the SS Nevasa as it left Sunderland for a school trip voyage
This year marks the 50th anniversary of David Dunn embarking on a journey on the SS Nevasa from Sunderland.
Today, David kindly shared his memories of his journey to Tenerife, Casablanca, Madeira and Lisbon with Echo readers.
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Hide AdDavid, now 64, said: "I was 14 at the time and was with Barnes Senior School. My parents paid £60 as we got a discount with being from a large family.”
David remembered that he was sea sick through the Bay of Biscay and added: “A nurse offered me a bread bun and a tablet which seemed odd.”
He later found out that eating the bread bun and taking the tablet worked wonders. The finer details are best left unexplained!
David also recalled another incident which happened on the journey and it was a prank which was played on one of the teachers.
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Hide Ad“The dormatory we were in played a prank on our teacher by placing a pail of water over the main door arch, so that when the door opened it would lead to a teacher being drenched.”
The prank backfired though, as David explained.
“We were punished by the ship’s captain by being put in the storage locker.”
The chilly punishment saw the boys being sent back to their dorms ‘with second thoughts on our actions from then on’.
A big highlight for many of the boys was a tour of Benfica’s football stadium in Lisbon and David said: “At our age, it was a fantastic day out.”
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Hide AdDavid still remembers a visit to a local market in Casablanca and said: “I went to buy an orange and gave the stall holder the equivalent of about 10 pence which, at home, would have got you about two oranges.
"He started looking around for a carrier bag and when he found one, he filled it with about 20 oranges.”
He also remembered ‘having to keep our school blazers on so that we could be recognised and in Tenerife, we nearly melted with the heat.”
David’s memories also included a tour of Mount Teide which is a volcano on Tenerife.
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Hide AdWhat are your memories of school trips in Sunderland? Did you go on a trip on one of the educational ships or perhaps went to one of Sunderland’s summer camps?
Did you take video footage of your time away and would you like to share it with our readers? If so, we would love to hear from you.
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Hide AdTake a look and then get in touch with your own memories by emailing [email protected]