It all started in 1935, when R.M.S. Olympic was purchased by Sir John Jarvis for £100,000. She was then sold to Thomas Ward Ltd on the understanding that she was to be broken up at Jarrow, on the River Tyne, to try and alleviate the serious unemployment in the North-East of England.

The 1935 auction was conducted by Knight Frank & Rutley over a period of 10 days in November, during which time 4,456 lots were auctioned. The Haltwhistle connection began when Douglas Smith, of the paint firm Smith & Walton, attended the auction with the intention of purchasing panelling and fittings to fit out a new factory building, as an office block and canteen.

It has to be remembered that this was during the depression and this was the cheapest way of obtaining materials for general usage rather than the conservation of any maritime heritage. Having said that all credit must go to the way S&W craftsmen re-installed the fittings in the building.

In the canteen area there was one of the sprung dance floors from Olympic, with panelling from the First Class areas around the walls. The ceiling had the star mouldings from the 1st Class Smoke Room, along with the smoke vents from the same area.

The lighting was from 28 Ormolu and crystal glass fittings from the first class areas. The staircase to the first floor was from the Grand Staircase, as was the panelling to both sides of the stair; a most impressive sight!

My involvement with the Haltwhistle site started in 2002 when I leased a building to carry out sub-contract work for Akzo Nobel (Crown Paints).Shortly after my move to Haltwhistle, Akzo Nobel decided to close the site and consolidate their operations on their other two UK plants.

I was informed that the site was to be sold and made the decision to try and buy the 14 acre site, which was to be sold in one lot. The Olympic fittings were to be sold separately.

We were successful in our bid for both the site and the Olympic fittings and re-named the site Hadrian Enterprise Park. It was the intention to utilise the site as a trading estate. The office block housing the Olympic fittings, I hoped, could be turned into a visitor and craft centre based around the fittings. Whilst the letting of the buildings was quite successful, my idea of a visitor and craft centre proved to be uneconomic following two feasibility studies I had commissioned on the project.

During the interim period I had enhanced the board room by removing the carpet to expose the Oak parquet flooring that had come from the Second Class Library of Olympic I also purchased a full set of replica White Star Line china in the turquoise and gold pattern, this was laid out on the board room table (see photo) to provide ten place settings. This was a very impressive site when entering the board room. Sadly, on one open day, I had one of the egg cups stolen. If they had asked I would have given them one!

I also purchased several other White Star Line items; one being a Coffee pot, which was delivered by your very own John White and David Scott-Beddard. It was a pleasure to meet them and give them a guided tour and they gave me invaluable insight into the items we had.

During this time several other people requested to be shown around, including some Titanic enthusiasts, a representative from the Maritime Museum and local councillors.

In early 2004 I received a telephone call from Ocean Liner Auctions enquiring weather the fittings were for sale, as he had a potential buyer. I agreed to meet Paul and Stephen Booth co-directors of O.L.A to discuss in depth, their enquiry. It transpired that the potential buyer, whilst wanting all of the fittings, they did not have the funding in place to proceed. This was disappointing, as the fittings were to be kept together and put on public display, which would have been my preferred option. I also had a meeting with Tynedale District Council and a member of Northern Heritage, as they expressed an interest in keeping the fittings at Haltwhistle. I made them an offer for them to purchase the fittings at half the auctioneers’ value and I would let them have the office block at a peppercorn rent. Unfortunately I never heard from them again!!

It was at this point I decided to auction the fittings, and appointed Ocean Liner Auctions to action the necessary publicity and produce the auction catalogue. The auction was scheduled for Saturday, 4th September 2004, and the strip out began in March 2004. Some very interesting finds came to light during this time; too many to list in this article!

The auction took place over three days; the Thursday and Friday for viewing and the auction on the Saturday. I met a lot of very interesting people and the auction was well attended with several telephone lines set up for bidding. The fittings were bought by all manner of people, from places as far away as the USA and Canada, and everyone that attended the auction expressed there enjoyment of the weekend. I believe the decision to auction the fittings was the right one, as the fittings are now in the hands of genuine collectors and will be seen by many more people than could ever have been expected at Haltwhistle.

I would like to express my thanks to Paul and Steve of O.L.A. for all their invaluable help and support, and to all the people who were involved in seeing R.M.S. OLYMPIC take another journey.