Neil Marsden

Published: 12th Jan

It is with great sadness and a heavy heart we have to report the passing of one of our longest serving volunteers, and former Trustee of DAPS, Neil Marsden.
Neil died peacefully at Arrow Park Hospital on the afternoon of Sunday 10th January following a short battle with cancer. Ronnie, Neil’s wife and three grown up children Jen, Chris & Philip were with him and were at his bedside during his final hours.

Neil began his career as an engineer at sea with amongst others, Clan Line but later came ashore and served a highly successful career with Merseyside Police graduating to serve in CID. He later returned to sea as a volunteer with the Sail Training Association with several ex Merseyside police colleagues.

Neil had been a regular volunteer on the Daniel Adamson for over ten years, right from our earliest days with little resources apart from a few tools and a lot of determination. when we acquired our first lorry trailer to which we attached a canvas lean-too to protect the temporary workbench, in typical Neil Marsden fashion he quickly named this “Nelson Mandela House” in honour of his favourite “Only fools and horses”. Neil also served for several terms as a Trustee and his wealth of knowledge gained from his early years as an engineer at sea through to serving with Merseyside Police was invaluable. Neil will mostly be remembered for is the fantastic scale model he built of the Danny and which for several years now, has served a very important part of our campaign to show people what our vision was for the ship.

Neil was a regular guide and steward during the 2014 season when the Daniel Adamson was brought into Liverpool’s Albert Dock. He had time for everyone and had lots of time especially for new volunteers and soon “showed them the ropes” as it where in passing on information about the ship and it’s story.

Neil always had time for a laugh and a joke but more over it was his infectious laugh for which he will be most remembered. He was a great supporter of shipping and heritage in general and spent a lot of time researching both his family history and the history of shipping companies and their fleets. He was well known on many internet forums, message boards and many FaceBook groups which were of interest to him and his many friends.

Neil’s funeral will take place at 14:00 Hrs on Wednesday 27th January at St Joseph’s church, Birkenhead then to Landican Cemetery. Neil’s family then request your company at St Josephs church club to gather and remember Neil.

Rest in Peace Neil. A great friend and colleague.
Fair Winds and following seas.