P&O Heritage Collection

16/06/2026

“P for my PLAYROOM, with games and with toys,
where no one will mind all your shouting and noise.”

We’re enjoying rediscovering ‘A Nautical ABC’ which was first published in 1948 to keep Orient Line’s young passengers informed and amused. It features N E Roberts’ memorable verse and Lynton Lamb’s wonderful illustrations.

It also had us delving into our photographic collections to find examples of nautical life that Lamb had illustrated.

Before air travel, an ocean voyage was the only way to travel as a family. Liners like P&O and Orient had nurseries and playrooms onboard. Specially trained stewardesses and Children’s Hostesses or ‘Chilly Hos’ like this one aboard CHUSAN (1950) kept young travellers busy.

Today you'll find Pirate Pete and the Junior Crew Kids Club on board .

You can explore the whole ABC, and our extensive photographic archive, in our collections online:

https://poheritage.com/collections/76931e51-c079-34a2-b785-75450a11737f

12/06/2026

“O is of course for the Orient Line;
that’s your choice and his choice and her choice and mine.”

We’re enjoying rediscovering ‘A Nautical ABC’ which was first published in 1948 to keep Orient Line’s young passengers informed and amused. It features N E Roberts’ memorable verse and Lynton Lamb’s wonderful illustrations.

It also had us delving into our photographic collections to find examples of nautical life that Lamb had illustrated.

The Orient Steam Navigation Company was established in 1878 to convey passengers, cargo and mail to Australia. After many years of close co-operation, P&O and Orient Line merged in the 1960s.

Does anyone recognise the piper in this poster from the ‘Run Away to Sea’ campaign?

You can explore the whole ABC in our collections online, and buy copies of posters in our online shop:

https://poheritage.com/collections/76931e51-c079-34a2-b785-75450a11737f

08/06/2026

Why did the ship have the wrong name in the painting?

We knew what the ship was called when the painting was made, and it wasn’t the name on the canvas in our collection.

But with a visit to the stores, a torch, and our detective hats on, we figured it out. And it was all about marketing.

Find out more about the story of ROME, VECTIS, and the artist Richard Neville-Cumming.

Why did our painting of a ship have the wrong name on it? A story from the birth of pleasure cruising.

06/06/2026

It’s Sweden.se National Day today, a public holiday and celebration of the Scandinavian nation.

This watercolour shows local people going to church in Leksand in Dalarna. Painted in their traditional regional dress, as worn on National Day, by Alfred Heaton Cooper it’s an archetypally Swedish scene. But how did it end up in our collections?

Alfred Heaton Cooper was a Lancashire-born painter of landscapes in watercolour. Today you’ll find his work (and the work of his son William) at The Heaton Cooper Studio in Ambleside.

Cooper travelled to Scandinavia in the summer of 1926, commissioned to paint scenes of Swedish life for a book. After seeing local people setting off for church in boats, he painted them at church in their Sunday finery.

When he left Sweden, Cooper sold some of his watercolours on to a shipping line, to be exhibited on one of their ships. The ship was Swedish American Line’s KUNGSHOLM (1966), which was bought by P&O in 1978, with its onboard art collection, and renamed SEA PRINCESS.

Read more about the story of our Scandinavian collections in this article by Anna-Klara Hahn-Haworth

https://poheritage.com/story/stories-from-the-stores-six-sculptures-by-stig-blomberg/

01/06/2026

“N is for NEPTUNE, the King of the Sea,
who rules o’er the Oceans you’re crossing with me.”

We’re enjoying rediscovering ‘A Nautical ABC’ which was first published in 1948 to keep Orient Line’s young passengers informed and amused. It features N E Roberts’ memorable verse and Lynton Lamb’s wonderful illustrations.

It also had us delving into our photographic collections to find examples of nautical life that Lamb had illustrated.

Passing over the equator was a memorable occasion. The ship’s crew organised elaborate ceremonies in which passengers paid tribute to Neptune, king of the oceans before ‘crossing the line’. Certificates were issued in the name of Neptune including one here also illustrated by Lynton Lamb.

You can explore the whole ABC, and our extensive photographic and ephemera collections, online:

https://poheritage.com/collections/76931e51-c079-34a2-b785-75450a11737f

28/05/2026

Are there any Ten Pound Poms in your family?

After the second world war, thousands of British people took up the opportunity to start a new life on the other side of the world, with an assisted passage to Australia or New Zealand.

P&O’s ships took many of them to their new homes and lives.

Read more about P&O’s Ten Pound Poms:

Who were the British migrants who left for a new life in Australia, sailing on P&O ships?

24/05/2026

“L for my LIFEBOATS, so sturdy and neat;
when down from their davits they make quite a fleet.”

We’re enjoying rediscovering ‘A Nautical ABC’ which was first published in 1948 to keep Orient Line’s young passengers informed and amused. It features N E Roberts’ memorable verse and Lynton Lamb’s wonderful illustrations.

It also had us delving into our photographic collections to find examples of nautical life that Lamb had illustrated.

Here one of ARCADIA (1954)’s lifeboat is pictured being lowered during a routine safety drill.

You can explore the whole ABC, and our extensive photographic archive, in our collections online:

https://poheritage.com/collections/76931e51-c079-34a2-b785-75450a11737f

21/05/2026

Did you know we have a collection of miniature ship models? The oldest ones date back to the nineteenth century.

Some were made to promote sea voyages, some were made for exhibitions, and some were made by sailors to remember their days at sea.

Many were lost as lines and shipyards closed. We’re dedicated to preserving the ones we have so that future generations can learn about the history of sea travel.

Our senior conservator, Anna-Klara Hahn-Haworth writes about what we can learn from these incredible models:

Our unique collection of models shows how ships were built, and the evolution of the P&O fleet.

20/05/2026

Last night we were thrilled to be at the book launch of Seafaring Women Through History by Jo Stanley, in the stunning surroundings of Lloyds Register Foundation, and in the week which began with International Day for Women in Maritime 2026 on 18th May.

In an academic career spanning over 40 years, Jo has done more than anyone to find, document, celebrate and champion the role of women seafarers. Her latest book, rooted in meticulous research and full of fascinating stories, “showcases the unremitting resolve of generations of seagoing women” of both the Royal and Merchant Navy, from the 1750s to the present day. It’s a wonderful and fascinating read.

Following in Jo’s wake, and aided by great initiatives like Lloyds Register Foundation’s Rewriting Women into Maritime History there’s now a growing list of titles, research projects and exhibitions like Maritime Women at the Maritiem Museum Rotterdam, recording the role of women in the wider maritime sector.

As an all-female team, we’re delighted to be onboard and committed to preserving the experiences of P&O’s women working both ashore and afloat. Please do get in touch if you can add to our archive.

You can follow Jo’s blog, Gender and the Sea, at https://genderedseas.blogspot.com/

19/05/2026

“K for the KNOTS (Bends and Hitches to sailors)
as well known to them as are stitches to tailors.”

We’re enjoying rediscovering ‘A Nautical ABC’ which was first published in 1948 to keep Orient Line’s young passengers informed and amused. It features N E Roberts’ memorable verse and Lynton Lamb’s wonderful illustrations.

It also had us delving into our photographic collections to find examples of nautical life that Lamb had illustrated.

A decade after the ABC, Orient Line launched its award winning advertising campaign ‘Run Away to Sea’. Pictured in this poster is Deck Storekeeper Clifford Cutting showing us the ropes on board ORSOVA (1954).

And in case you didn’t know, knots, bends and hitches are three different things. A knot is tied at the end of a rope; a hitch ties a rope to a fastening, and a bend joins two ropes together.

You can explore the whole ABC in our collections online, and buy copies of posters in our online shop:

https://poheritage.com/collections/76931e51-c079-34a2-b785-75450a11737f