On behalf of the President, Chairman and other members of the Committee, I take much pleasure in welcoming you to the Queen Mary Association’s new website.

The sound you heard when you stepped aboard is from a vintage recording of the steam whistle located on the forward funnel of the much loved Queen Mary.Turn up the volume on your computer and click here if you would like to hear it again.

For thirty-one years between 1936 and 1967, this glorious, melancholic drone would be heard at fortnightly intervals by all who lived and worked in and around the thriving dockland of Southampton.

It was rumoured if the wind was blowing in a certain direction, the Mary’s whistle would cause shop and office windows as far away as Bernard Street to rattle, and occasionally crack. I cannot vouch for the legitimacy of this old legend, but I do declare that the sound travelled for more miles than I would today care to walk!

Type “RMS Queen Mary” into your favourite search engine and you will unearth many hundreds of fascinating web pages, each one of them bulging with facts and figures about this lovely old ship, so no need for me to tell you anything else about the liner other than to reassure you that the old lady is alive and well, and is currently loitering in retirement at Long Beach, California. www.queenmary.com