The Master of the last Sappho

“The Master of the last Sappho” is a sequel to “Sappho and her sisters” about the little steamships with the fancy classical (recycled) names which belonged to the Bristol Steam Navigation Company. In a now vanished era, they traded out of the Bristol Channel to Wales, Ireland and Continental ports. Steve Mudway, who spotted the original piece responded with the information that his father, Captain Rex Mudway, was the Master of the last Sappho. After years of trading in the familiar Channel routes, Rex took Sappho across the Atlantic when she was sold to Canada to trade in the St Lawrence Seaway.  For a year he continued there as her Master under her new identity. Rex Mudway was also an officer on several of Sappho’s sister ships, whose names will already be familiar: Hero, Juno, Milo, Apollo. Though this is a “view from the bridge” I hope it will also be a memorial to the crews who served on these ships in any capacity as well as the women who waited at home.

Rex Mudway – Master of the Last Sappho