“... fastest at 17-18 knots (20 mph). The first coastal steamer to be made of steel rather than wood or iron, the Columba was also unusually light. Black smoke streaming from its twin funnels, its canoe bow running knife-like through the waves, the ship became a famous sight all along its route. Those lucky enough to be aboard (Glasgow merchants, Edinburgh ...”

“... in the flats above and below don’t even know there’s been a fire. This was something else.’ Richard Welsh is a senior officer with the London Fire Brigade. His pager went off at 1.18 a.m. ‘Initially they had six machines there,’ he said. ‘Then they asked for eight, and then ten, and then 15, 20, and then 25. I’m hearing that on the way there, so ...”