Home recreates a 1950s ship cabin for resident

A MAIDSTONE care home recreated the cabin of the ship a resident sailed around the world on, aged just 23, to marry her future husband.

When Mary Savage, 95, a resident at Care UK’s Invicta Court, shared her story of following her soon-to-be husband around the world when the Navy posted him in Hong Kong, the team knew they had to do something special to bring her memories back to life.

Tasked with recreating the cabin of the ship Mary sailed on, the HMT Empire Trooper, the home’s maintenance manager

Brian Thornton first studied the ship’s design and old photos she had captured, before putting his engineering expertise to the test.

Built in sections over the course of several months, the ship’s cabin was created using recycled material, including cardboard boxes to old wood saved from a fallen down gazebo in Brian’s garden.

On February 16, 1952 Mary boarded the ship in the Port of Southampton to endure a five-week journey to Kowloon in Hong Kong.

After saying a tearful goodbye to her family in London, Mary boarded the ship with her belongings in a suitcase, which had in it a neatly folded, pale pink, silk wedding dress.

Her final destination was to be the altar, where her future husband, Colin Savage, would be waiting for her. The couple met while working at a factory in Maidstone.

Quickly realising that factory work was not the career for him, Colin rejoined join the Royal Navy, where he worked as an instructor at HMS Pembroke.

It was during his time here that Colin popped the question, but later had to delay their wedding due to being posted to Hong Kong.

With almost 6,000 miles between the two of them, Mary booked her one-way ticket to be reunited with her love. The ship had been due to sail a day earlier but was delayed due to the funeral of King George VI.

After safely arriving in Hong Kong, the couple married on March 22, 1952

in Kowloon

Mary said: “I didn’t know a soul in the city apart from my soon-to-be husband.”

The couple went on to live in Kowloon, where Mary volunteered at a local school.

To officially unveil the recreation, the team at Invicta Court invited Mary’s family and friends, which included four generations, to hear her story and share her memories.

Mary added: “I was lost for words when I saw the cabin. It looked so realistic that it was like walking back to the past – I couldn’t believe it. I’m so thankful to Brian and for being able to share my memory with my family.”