I was on the Welsh Piper, a self-discharging aggregates dredger, when we berthed in Appledore some 10 years after the ship had been built there. It was the first time the ship had returned and it aroused a fair bit of interest with workers from the yard. They were interested in seeing how 'one of theirs' was doing. There were also a few jokers who shouted that they were amazed we were still afloat! They must have done something right as she is still trading some 33 years after being built.
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