THE LONG VIEW: Where the pieces of the ocean liner Doric found a new home in Gwent

IT SAILED for only 14 years , but although its life was short, the Doric has left a lasting legacy in Newport and Gwent as its hand-crafted furniture found its way from the from the breakers yard to the homes and pubs of the region.

Landlord Jason Salmon has more than his fair share of the Doric in his pub. Pride of place goes to the table which sits in the middle of the Prince of Wales in Risca.

The table is steeped in the folklore of the pub he says. "People have drunk on it, danced on it, in days gone by the dead have even been laid out on it". When the Doric was broken up the table was valued enough to be taken by Cashmore's for their boardroom. “After that Hancock's, the brewery who then ran the pub had it in their boardroom. Eventually it came here. When, we don't know."

So vast was the table it had to be brought in through the window of the pint-sized pub and it clearly isn’t going anywhere now.

Jason, who became landlord of the pub almost two years ago, has re-decorated the 150-year-old inn with a nautical theme inspired by the Doric connection. "The table is synonymous with the Prince of Wales" he says, "so I've made it the centre-piece. We've put in floorboards to give a feeling of decking and portholes, but also the Doric memorabilia on the walls makes the ship the focus of the pub."

Sanded and re-varnished, the gleaming table is now surrounded by framed memorabilia from the ship. A teaspoon, silver with the White Star crest sits in a case. Another frame displays a menu telling of exotic dishes like glazed smoked ox tongue and Chicken a la King to be served to waiting passengers.

EXOTIC: A menu from the Doric at the Prince of Wales Inn, Risca

Alan Williams could have the piece which has travelled the furthest from the breaker’s yard. The ex-miner from Blaina has a finely bevelled yet “incredibly heavy” glass-fronted oak cabinet from the Doric in his front-room.

"My father bought it for my mother from one of the sales on the Doric in Newport." He says. "It's beautifully made, but it's built slightly out of square as if it was tailor made to fit a space. It makes me wonder what that was." It now looks equally at home filled with family heirlooms and with pictures of grandchildren on top.

Kath Johnson lives so close to the Usk that she used to watch the ships come up the river from her home at a farm in Goldcliff. "When you went upstairs you could see the great ships go past. They looked magnificent."

She is reminded of their presence every day by a curious piece of furniture bought from the Doric. Once used by the ship’s barbers, the long, bench-like seat has been a part of the family since 1936 and still sits in the same house. "I was born in this house in 1941 and my mother used to put me to sleep on it.

"I've had the seat re-covered, but it's been in use all these years."

"I use one of the drawers on the side for cutlery and on the other side for my grandchildren's toys. I keep boots and shoes underneath."

She says she was always told it was from the Doric. "My father used to go to market in Newport on a Wednesday and afterwards he'd go to the White Hart pub in Pill. He must have heard about the sale then and bought it."

For Tony Whitcombe Cashmore's was something of a family affair. “I worked there from 1968 to 1976 break the ships up, but my brother sold furniture from them” he says .

Tony has furniture from other ships which met their end at Cashmore's, including stools from the Empress of France, but from the Doric he has a copy of the ship’s deck plan. Illustrated with views of the lounge, restaurants and smoking rooms, it paints a picture of a long-gone age of leisure, but which still has echoes in the stylish salvage in Gwent houses and pubs.

PLUSH: The smoking room from the Doric, taken from Tony Whitcombe's illustrated plans of the liner 

89-year-old Dorothy Ellworthy remembers the Doric very well. As a 10-year-old schoolgirl at Durham Road Primary she went with her classmates to look round the liner moored by the Usk.

"It was so exciting. We'd never been on a visit anywhere before. Miss Hackett the headmistress led us and we walked all the way there and it seemed an awful long way."

She too has a souvenir of the ship, but not one that has pride of place in her house any more. "My husband's family bought a bathroom cabinet from the Doric. We had it in the house for many years, but I'm afraid it's in the garage now, looking a bit tatty."

Keith Belcher too was there when the Doric came up the river. He is 84-years-old, but despite being only four at the time, he recalls the giant ship gliding beneath the Transporter Bridge. "The tide was very high to carry the ship through. It only just cleared the bridge, it was so tall." he remembers.

"It was an incredible sight. Crowds of people were lined up on Coronation Park to watch." The inside of the Doric he found equally striking. "My mum and dad took me on a tram from our home on Corporation Road to see it. I was so impressed by the lifeboats - how big they were. The whole thing was lovely inside, all brass and wood."

The banker who lived in Ronald Rogers' house in Bassaleg must have had good taste. Or at least Ronald admires the solid oak panelling that he bought from the Doric and installed in his dining room.

“The walls weren’t plastered and so the panels are fixed directly onto them,” he says. "We moved in in 1985 and I was struck then by the panelling. The wood is very heavy and beautifully carved. It’s just very impressive.”

How many more craftsman-made cabinets, tables and chairs have not survived? Many houses on Capel Crescent in Pill are said to have had front doors from the Doric with carvings and tinted glass. Today, all seem to have gone, replaced with functional, if dull uPVC.

It is heartening though, that scattered though these pieces are, they have become as much part of people's lives as they were to those exotic holiday-makers 80 years ago.

If you have a fitting from the Doric lying unwanted, Jason Salmon at the Prince of Wales in Risca would like to hear from you. You can call him on 01633 612900.