Restoration begins for famous Clyde-built Queen Mary

One of Scotland's most famous turbine steamships has had a fresh lick of paint as work to restore her begins, less than six months after she was towed 700 nautical miles back to Scotland.

The launching of the liner the Queen Mary from the river Clyde in September 1934.

Charity Friends of TS Queen Mary rescued the ship from almost certain demise after she was found languishing in a dockyard on the Thames Estuary, several years after serving as a floating bar and restaurant in London.

Remarkably, the 1930s Clyde-built steamship was given a clean bill of health when she was inspected in dry-dock last month.

The inspection highlighted just minor repair work required on the hull, a testament to the skills and engineering talent of Glasgow’s shipbuilders.

Queen Mary gets a fresh lick of paint.

In the last three weeks, her hull has been stripped down, carefully coated and repainted in a bright white, deep black and red three-tone traditional colour-scheme. Over the weekend the ‘Queen Mary’ name was carefully hand-painted onto the ship’s sides once again.

Charity trustee Iain Sim said: “To think just six months ago Queen Mary was languishing on the Thames and now she’s been stripped down, carefully inspected, protected with a specialist coating and repainted. She looks bonnie, spectacular, just cracking. Specialists from Dales Marine and paint manufacturers AkzoNobel and Jotun have done a great job.

Queen Mary gets a fresh lick of paint.

“Despite all this work, there’s still a tremendous amount to be done inside before she can be reopened as an interactive exhibitition and an arts and culture venue. That said, this is a fantastic milestone and we’ve demonstrated just what can be done.

“We’re very grateful to people and businesses across the country for their support and donations — every penny counts in our quest to raise £2 million to restore this wonderful piece of Scottish heritage.”

The £2 million fundraising campaign was launched in June by the charity’s patron, Scots actor Robbie Coltrane OBE. The charity has raised £300,000 towards its target so far, enabling this first phase of work.

For more information and to donate to the charity’s campaign, search for Friends of TS Queen Mary.

Scottish heritage: Scotland’s people, places and history

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