Former shipyard worker tracked down the last Leith- built ship and sailed on her

Forty six years ago Lawrence Dinse left school and followed his family's footsteps into Leith's Henry Robb shipyard. Little did he know he would be one of the last 6 men to work in the yard before it's closure in 1984. The shipyards had played a important part in the Ports history spanning 700 years of shipbuilding.

One of the last Leith shipbuilders track's down the last Leith built ship to Mediterranean islands and sailed on her. | Lawrence Dinse

The last ever ship launched from the yard was the St Helen, in 1983. One of a pair of ferries along with the St Catherine, built for the Isle of Wight ferries.

After coming across a you tube video showing one of the ferries being launched, Lawrence began to wonder what happened to the ferries. After some research it became clear that the ships no longer sailed from the Isle of Wight and had been sold to an Italian ferry company called Delcomar. The ships now sailed from the Mediterranean island of Sardinia to the island of San Pietro.

Sardinian crew member remembers the name Henry Robb | Lawrence Dinse

After talking to his wife, Lawrence decided that he was determined to find the ferries and sail on them. This was the beginning of a long journey. After driving down to Manchester airport and a flight to Barcelona, followed by an overnight ship to Sardinia and Porto Torres. Then a bus ride to Olbia on the Island's north were the hotel was, Lawrence had to hire a car and drive a further 5 hours to reach Calasetta in the south of Sardinia were he had to get another ferry to the Island of San Pietro and finally get to see the last 2 Leith built ships.

The ferries have new names now, but you can still see the original name's of St Catherine and St Helen welded on the sides. This was a poignant moment for Lawrence, after remembering the ships being built in Leith along with the memories of all the men who worked in the Port over the many hundreds of years.

Leith has a proud shipbuilding legacy, but like many former industrial areas, this has all been forgotten in time. As the area continues to change direction, it's more important that we remember the past.

Tracking down the last Leith built ships, was a way of saluting 700 year's of shipbuilding in Leith as well as remembering a time when Leith built ships.