Blog

November 2019 (in progress)

  • My book launch on board City of Adelaide was awesome! Captain Bruce’s great-granddaughter Pamela Whittle and her two daughters, Meredith and Julia, agreed to share the floor with me, along with Clipper Ship City of Adelaide Ltd honorary board member Rosemary McKay. Rosemary questioned me on the first section of my book ‘Clipper Ship City of Adelaide BENEATH THE SOUTHERN CROSS’. The chapters cover my experience with the ship since discovering her in 1999, through to her leaving Irvine on a barge to be given back her original name from Carrick at Greenwich, then being towed to Rotterdam for shrink-wrapping and fumigation to meet with Australian quarantine regulations. Meredith then posed questions about the voyage to me. I read occasional extracts from my voyage diary whilst Julia read corresponding extracts from my heroine Sarah Bray’s diary. All this delighted the full audience. The icing on the cake happened when Pam helped me cut the cake I had had specially decorated with my book cover on it, and she splashed champagne on the timbers of the ship that her great-grandfather had commissioned to be built. It was so fabulous to be back inside the ship, and to see progress that has been made since my last visit. Board member Peter Christopher honoured me by mc-ing the event.

 

October 2019

  • I flew from Edinburgh-Doha-Adelaide on 28 October for my book launch on board City of Adelaide on         9 November, the closest Saturday to the 155th anniversary of her arrival on 7 November 1864. I arrived on  29 October and was met at the airport by my dear friend Jeanette. We drove straight to the clipper ship and I boarded and joined an important meeting of funders and supporters that was convened to outline impending plans for the move from Dock One to Dock Two in Port Adelaide. The Board of Directors spoke to a number of slides and an information pack was distributed to those in attendance. After the meeting I settled in to Jeanette’s home for my prolonged stay till mid-January. I am excited to be going to Bundaberg and Sydney/Kiama for Christmas and New Year respectively, after which I return to Adelaide
  • Sadly Latimer Trend who printed ‘Clipper Ship City of Adelaide BENEATH THE SOUTHERN CROSS’ has gone into administration. My thoughts go out to the employees and the company, which has served since 1889. https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-d&q=latimer+trend. Links to their portfolio are no longer accessible, but this is content in relation to my book

“BENEATH THE SOUTHERN CROSS

We had the pleasure of printing Rita Bradd’s book ‘Clipper Ship City of Adelaide BENEATH THE SOUTHERN CROSS’ that contains the story of how the oldest surviving composite clipper ship in the world, City of Adelaide, was rescued from demolition at the Scottish Maritime Museum.

The author commented:

“I had the very special experience of being involved in the layout of my non-fiction book, ‘Clipper Ship City of Adelaide BENEATH THE SOUTHERN CROSS’, designed by Robert Randall. From the very beginning, he recommended Latimer Trend as printers. With a very tight timeline, my books were delivered on the specified date. I was so excited when they arrived. I slit open the first box. Seeing, touching and smelling the stunning, high-spec books was absolutely thrilling and filled me with pride. The books have the ‘WOW!’ factor and are proving very popular with the public. Thank you, Latimer Trend, for a job well done in embodying twenty years of my passion for clipper ship City of Adelaide in this fabulous creation.
The 12th August 2019 marks the 155th anniversary of when 1864 clipper ship City of Adelaide left Plymouth on her maiden voyage. The real-life heroine in my story boarded here on route for Adelaide, South Australia. To have my book virtually launched in Latimer Trend’s portfolio is very pertinent and exciting, and such a coincidence you are based in Plymouth!” *

The book can be purchased by here

https://ritabradd.com/clipper-ship-city-of-adelaide-beneath-the-southern-cross/

* note from author – City of Adelaide called into Plymouth to pick up passengers for South Australia