Hedley Malloch
Member
A letter in today's Times:
"Sister to the Titanic
From Mr Frank Nicholson
Sir, Readers interested in seeing what the first-class lounge of the
Titanic’s sister ship, the Olympic (letters, April 8 and 11), looked
like should make their way to the dining room of the White Swan Hotel
in Alnwick, Northumberland, which incorporates many of its original
features.
When the Olympic was broken up in 1936 this part was bought at auction
and removed to the hotel. My father purchased it shortly afterwards on
behalf of Vaux Breweries of Sunderland, of which he was then managing
director.
A contemporary writer described the lounge as “a noble apartment in
the Louis Quinze style, the details being taken from the Palace of
Versailles”. The hotel dining room’s surroundings may not be quite the
same as Promenade Deck A on the Olympic, but guests can still, as the
description continues, “indulge in reading, conversation, cards,
tea-drinking and other social intercourse”.
Yours faithfully,
FRANK NICHOLSON,
Cocken House,
Chester-le-Street,
Co Durham DH3 4EN.
April 13.
"Sister to the Titanic
From Mr Frank Nicholson
Sir, Readers interested in seeing what the first-class lounge of the
Titanic’s sister ship, the Olympic (letters, April 8 and 11), looked
like should make their way to the dining room of the White Swan Hotel
in Alnwick, Northumberland, which incorporates many of its original
features.
When the Olympic was broken up in 1936 this part was bought at auction
and removed to the hotel. My father purchased it shortly afterwards on
behalf of Vaux Breweries of Sunderland, of which he was then managing
director.
A contemporary writer described the lounge as “a noble apartment in
the Louis Quinze style, the details being taken from the Palace of
Versailles”. The hotel dining room’s surroundings may not be quite the
same as Promenade Deck A on the Olympic, but guests can still, as the
description continues, “indulge in reading, conversation, cards,
tea-drinking and other social intercourse”.
Yours faithfully,
FRANK NICHOLSON,
Cocken House,
Chester-le-Street,
Co Durham DH3 4EN.
April 13.
