February 2021 Picture of the Month

My February image was actually taken in February – but 53 years ago in February 1968. I had been shooting an editorial assignment in Manchester Docks for a pictorial encyclopaedia on a very cold snowy Sunday morning, some of the pictures being taken from high up on one of the large quayside cranes, allowing me to look down on the cargo vessels below. This one, however, was not part of the project but as I was already a regular attendee on the Kippax Street Stand at Maine Road, photographing Manchester Liners' 1964-built general cargo vessel MV Manchester City – the third of four vessels to carry that name – was irresistable. The 8,734 grt ship had a very short life in Manchester Liners colours – by 1971 with more and more freight containerised, it  was sold to a shipping line in South Korea. Over the years, the picture has been published several times, including as a magazine cover.