Joanne was witness to meeting of Cunard’s Queens Down Under

Mar 5 2008 by Andrew Baldwin, Huddersfield Daily Examiner

WHEN tens of thousands of sightseers gathered at Sydney Harbour to witness the majestic Cunard liners Queen Elizabeth II and sister ship the new Queen Victoria sail past each other Joanne Clayton was among them.

The former Huddersfield woman was up at dawn to join the crowds on the foreshore for the historic occasion.

It was an iconic moment, with the QE2 on its final world voyage and the Queen Victoria making its maiden round-the world trip.

The spectacular royal rendezvous was the first and only time the two Queens will meet in Sydney.

It was 30 years to the day since the QE2 first sailed into the harbour and the meeting with Queen Victoria was the last before a final voyage to Dubai and refurbishment as a floating hotel.

Joanne summed it up as a magnificent occasion, adding: “What a day.”

She was up 6am to get the ferry into Sydney. It was a beautiful morning and by lunchtime the temperature had reached 86°F (30°C).

Joanne says: “The Queen Victoria has come to town. There she sits in all her glory, eight storeys high. She dwarfs the harbour bridge.

“The passengers say it was a bad trip from LA, with big seas. Round the corner in Darling Harbour is the QE2. Tonight they passed each other.

“Oh how I love living in Sydney.”

The love affair with Australia began 36 years ago when she went to an exhibition on the country which was being staged at Huddersfield Town Hall.

Joanne says: “I looked at photos of Australia and decided to emigrate. It was the best thing I ever did.

“I live in the most beautiful country in the world, where the sun shines all day. I live in Manly on the beach. It is so wonderful.”

She was born at 19 Sufton Street in Birkby and went to school in Birkby.

She then worked for Marks and Spencer and as a weaver at Middlemost’s Mill off Norman Road, Birkby, and Storks Mill in nearby Bay Hall.

Mother Gwen Clayton was also in the textile trade as a winder and father Cyril was a welder at valve makers Hopkinsons in Birkby.

She remembers a friend called Valerie. Next door in Birkby was David Johnson and two doors up was friend Roger, now a priest.

Joanne arrived in Sydney in 1970 and initially lived in a tin hut in the suburb of Cabramatta.

Having found her feet, she bought a bridal shop in Sydney and had it for 15 years. Her spirit of enterprise won her a businesswoman of the year award.

She has two children, who have their own businesses, and five grandchildren.

She has never returned to Huddersfield. “Australia is a wonderful country,” she says.

l Contact Joanne by email at joanneclayton@bigpond.com.au