The letter from Mr Bryson MD of the Penarth company to Messrs. Swan Hunter & Wigham Richardson inviting them to tender for the construction of a pontoon or floating dock. A copy of an agreement between the TVR and the company indicated the financial support that they had obtained in advance.

The letter is dated the 12th December and by 4th January they are required to submit their tender; the requirement is underlined and the date double underlined. You can just hear the reaction from the Geordies - Eh; Waht, Oh Bloody 'ell - where's my stottie?

The sheer extent of the work involved to prepare this tender over a Christmas holiday is reminiscent of the scene at Mr. Scrooge's office on a bad day! I suppose if there are any consolations, the estimators and engineers would not have been short of coal for the fire to warm the offices while they were working on the tender at their Tyneside offices! [062]