QE2'S MAGNIFICENT WHISTLE...

Robert Lightbody, a real QE2 fan and experts reports with words and pictures about the last visit to Clyde:

"I have never, ever, in my life, heard anything so sad and yet so triumphant as QE2's magnificent whistle blowing across a mill-pond smooth Firth of Clyde last night. It echoed on for a good 10 seconds across the water, echoing off the faraway hills… it was simply stunning… I will never, ever forget it. It was an inky black night with a clear sky bursting full of stars but the brightest star of all was the lovely QE2 What a send off. A huge fireworks display right above her as she slowly edged out, and then she glided off. Camera flashes and fireworks and bonfires all along the shore for miles and miles and miles and miles. Our ship was leaving, forever. And it hurt. The Clyde used to be famous, used to make things, and now the last, the best, was leaving, and not ever coming back. And everybody knew it, you could tell. I'd persuaded a young friend of mine to come down to the quayside in the morning to see her come in. He's interested in cars, not ships. But he was completely and utterly gobsmacked. He said she was completely beautiful, and he doesn't normally say things like that. He grabbed the last free ticket that I had for the evening cruise on the fabulous little M.V. Balmoral and at 11pm we all stood silently as QE2 gained speed and moved away, I knew he "got it" – just as it was too late, a shiver went up his spine and he got it. We all got it last night."