| ON BOARD ST ANSELM & ST CHRISTOPHER 4: The Promenade Deck Tea Bar & Lounge |
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| Above & below: On the upper of the two main passenger decks, the Promenade Deck, the only original saloon was the Tea Bar which had a capacity for 98 passengers and was located forward of what would later become the Motorists' Lounge. On the outside was green bench seating whilst individual wooden seats furnish the centre section. Both these views are looking astern, where mirrors fitted on the aft bulkhead gave a spacious appearance to the room. At the opposite end was a servery. |
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| Above: Aboard Stena Antrim in the 1990s: throughout the ship's UK career, the servery for the lounge remained at the forward end, and this view shows inside the servery, looking across to starboard. This area was originally stainless steel, so presumably the wood-effect was added at a later date. Picture courtesy Gary Andrews |
| Above: Another view of the servery on Stena Antrim, this time looking forward/across to starboard. Picture courtesy Gary Andrews |
| Above: A wider view of the lounge on Stena Antrim; The original central fixed seating and rectangular tables have been replaced by free-standing seats and circular tables, the seats being of the same type used in part of the adjacent motorists' lounge. Picture courtesy Gary Andrews |
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| Above: The Tea Bar was upgraded at the 1983 refit with refrigeration and microwave equipment to enable it to offer a better selection of quick meals. This lounge appears to have subsequently been used for a variety of purposes over the years on each ship - by the late-1980s it was providing a bistro service (as pictured above) but later returned to something like its original role as a 'Lifesavers' cafe/bar. By 1992 on the Stena Antrim it was described in an on-board guide as serving as a restaurant, whilst latterly on the Stena Cambria (ex-St Anselm) it received 'Coasters' cafe branding before assuming Stena's new Globetrotter name for use again as a cafe. In Newhaven service, the space was in use as a restaurant, still under the versatile Globetrotter brand. Under P&O Stena it retained the distinctive Globetrotter decor, but became Mariners' Brasserie. |
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| Above: As bult the area aft, astern of the Tea Lounge on Promenade Deck, was a deck shelter - this can be seen in the above picture of St Anselm in her original guise with its aft end open to the outside deck astern. The capacity of the ships in their original state was only 1,000 and Sealink recognised the need to increase this at an early stage in their careers. In the second phase of adjustments to the ships in the winter of 1982/1983, when the superstructure was extended to the stern with the addition of greater shopping facilities on Boat Deck, the shelter was enclosed and became a lounge. As the Motorists' Lounge it served through the remainder of the British Ferries era and was later thoroughly refurbished under Stena on each ship. |
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| Above: The Motorists' Lounge aboard one of the Saints in SBF days. On either side were larger semi-circular sofas whilst centrally were small circular tables with individual blue chairs. Just about visible in this picture is the way the windows incline upwards towards the stern, reflecting the pronounced sheer of this class of vessel. A menu on the forward bulkhead promotes the 'Lifesavers' Cafe/Bar forward. |
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| Above: Another posed Sealink brochure scene - this time facing aft. The chairs, tables and yellow/orange walls are the same as the previous picture, whilst the large windows faced aft onto the open deck aft. An interesting element of this deck space was that it featured an enclosure which, like the adjoining lounge, was reserved for the exclusive use of motorists. |
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| Above: A view of the lounge aboard Stena Antrim (ex-St Christopher) taken during the 1990s when the ship was operating on the Stranraer-Larne run. Central banks of reclining seating have appeared and the free-standing chairs are now located on the outside of the lounge, this time with red upholstering. Picture courtesy Gary Andrews |
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| Above: A 1997 shot of the same area on the Stena Cambria. The individual chairs have gone to be replaced by deeper and more substantial dark blue seats. The red sofa-style seating to the outside has survived but appears to have been reupholstered. When the ship operated out of Newhaven for P&O Stena Line this area was thoroughly refurbished, becoming a Harbour Coffee Company in line with the P&O Stena 'Brand World' complete with new servery area at the forward end. |
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| Above: Our tour concludes with a brief visit to the St Anselm's bridge. As can be seen from this comparable picture on board the same ship as Isla de Botafoc in 2003, although more modern equipment has been added in places, little else has changed here over the years. |
| Above: A final view of the forward starboard quarter of this space on the Stena Antrim, showing the larger semi-circular sofa seating installed to the side of the lounge at some stage. Picture courtesy Gary Andrews |