Title - Three New Ships for the Heysham-Belfast Overnight Service.
Location - Heysham, Lancashire, England; Belfast, Ulster, Northern Ireland.
Artist - Leslie Arthur Wilcox (1904-1982).

Description - The new passenger ferry "TSS Duke of Lancaster" in this painting was completed in 1956 by Harland & Wolff, for the Heysham to Belfast route across the Irish Sea. It was also used as a part-time cruise ship, and converted to a car ferry in 1970, and continued on the route until 1975.

Year Published - 1956
Size - Quad Royal  (approx 50 x 40in or 127 x 101.5cm)

Other Details:
Original Vintage British Railways Travel Poster.
Published by British Railways (London Midland Region) LM 13856
Printed in Great Britain by Jordison & Co Ltd, London and Middlesbrough

Condition Grade and Condition Report:
Grade: B+/A-, un-conserved.
Central fold, edge wear and small tears. More detailed photos are available on request if required.

More About The Artist:
Leslie Arthur Wilcox RI, RSMA, was born in Fulham in 1904.
He was known mainly as a marine artist working in oils, but was also a watercolourist, illustrator, poster artist, marine model-maker and author. He was for some years Honorary Secretary of the Royal Society of Marine Artists and a member of the Royal Institute of Painters in Water Colours. His works are in many collections around the world, including the National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, and the Royal Collection.
He volunteered for the navy before conscription started, and had spent only a few months in the Naval Patrol Service before his skills were recognised and he was seconded to the Naval Camouflage unit at Leamington Spa, where he spent the rest of the war making model ships and testing camouflage designs.