3th September 1949: Ravenswood
On Saturday 3rd September 1949, P & A Campbell’s Ravenswood emerged with a much changed crew following a mass walk-out a couple of days earlier: 3rd September 1949: Ravenswood – Kingswear Castle
Supporting the preservation and operation of paddle steamers Waverley and Kingswear Castle
On Saturday 3rd September 1949, P & A Campbell’s Ravenswood emerged with a much changed crew following a mass walk-out a couple of days earlier: 3rd September 1949: Ravenswood – Kingswear Castle
On 4th September 1953 you could have reached Lulworth Cove by sea for time ashore either by taking Empress from Weymouth or Embassy from Bournemouth and then transferred to Consul at Swanage: 4th September 1953: Consul, Embassy and Empress – Kingswear Castle
With war about to be declared, P & A Campbell summoned all three of its Sussex based paddle steamers Glen Gower, Brighton Queen and Waverley to return from Newhaven to the Bristol Channel on Saturday 2nd September 1939: 2nd September 1939: Sussex Coast – Kingswear Castle
Up to WW2 Victoria was the Cosens’ paddle steamer most usually scheduled for the run from Weymouth round Portland Bill to call at West Bay, Lyme Regis and Seaton. And that’s exactly what she was scheduled to do on Wednesday 1st September 1937: 1st September 1937: Victoria – Kingswear Castle
On Sunday 31st August 1958 Monarch, under the command of Capt Haines, was due to run a “Late Night New Orleans Jazz Cruise – The River Boat Shuffle with Gerry Brown’s Jazzmen and the Kapota “8” Skiffle Group with Pedro Harris and his Guitar” leaving Bournemouth Pier at 8pm and returning to Poole Quay at…
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On 30th August 1950 Bristol Queen left Cardiff at 9.15am for Ilfracombe but only got as far as Weston. Why was that? 30th August 1950: Bristol Queen – Kingswear Castle
The KC September Pictures of the Month, which are now up, are about Malcolm Cockell – Babcock’s Chief Engineer for the lifting of the Mary Rose from the seabed off Southsea in 1982. He also played a crucial role in the return to service of KC in 1985. To find out more: September 2026: Malcolm…
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Rebuilt and returned to service after WW2 in 1947 Bournemouth Queen ran for only ten more seasons before being withdrawn and scrapped. Her last trip was on Thursday 29th August from Southampton to Ryde: 29th August 1957: Bournemouth Queen – Kingswear Castle
The paddle steamer route between Bournemouth and Swanage was ever a hotspot for weekend sailors getting themselves into difficulties as the tide swept them out to sea from Studland. Here is one such occasion on Tuesday 28th August 1956: 28th August 1956: Monarch – Kingswear Castle
From their development in the 1880s onwards excursion paddle steamers enjoyed an enviable reputation for carrying their passengers safely. But bizarrely one date – 27th August – stands out for things going seriously wrong: 27th August 1886, 1928, 1934 & 1935: A Bizarre Day – Kingswear Castle
At 10.45am on Thursday August 26th 1937 we could have boarded the now red-funnelled PS Duke of Devonshire at Princess Pier Torquay for the 2 hour run along the Devon Coast to have the day ashore at Sidmouth: 26th August 1937: Duke of Devonshire – Kingswear Castle
On 25th August 1928 you could have boarded the veteran paddle steamer Royal Sovereign at Old Swan Pier, next to London Bridge, for a day trip to Southend, Margate and Ramsgate. She was then towards the end of her career with only one more season to go: 25th August 1928: Royal Sovereign & London Belle…
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People are different. They have different budgets, tastes and expectations. Paddle steamer operators have always had to cater for these varied market segments. Let’s take a couple of examples on the River Thames: From when she was built in 1909 right up until 1949 (apart from the war years) Golden Eagle was the GSN’s mass…
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If you had travelled to Torquay on 24th August 1960 for a trip to Exmouth and Sidmouth on PS Princess Elizabeth you would have been disappointed. To find out more: 24th August 1960: Princess Elizabeth – Kingswear Castle
You could have taken a trip from the East Coast Piers of the Isle of Wight to Bournemouth right up to 1966 although the time you spent afloat after 1956 was only one and a half hours each way. How did that work? Sandown, Shanklin & Ventnor to Bournemouth – Kingswear Castle
In order to even up the kilometres steamed by each paddle steamer on Lake Geneva, PS Montreux was brought out of reserve on Wednesday 18th August to take over from Savoie which is now laid up in the Ouchy Shipyard. Montreux will run circuits of the eastern lake from Lausanne and the evening cruises to…
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With river water levels rising at Dresden (8am 22nd August 70cm) the paddle steamers are gradually returning to service. Yesterday (21st August) PS Krippen was scheduled for the double run from Dresden to Schloss Pillnitz, Leipzig for one trip to Pillnitz followed by a “Sightseeing Cruise”, Pillnitz for three “Sightseeing Cruises” and Stadt Wehlen for…
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On Monday 22nd August 1955 there was a re-arrangement of which ship ran what Bristol Channel service after an accident involving Glen Usk at Newport the previous Friday. To find out more: 22nd August 1955: Britannia – Kingswear Castle
On Saturday 21st August 1965 PS Princess Elizabeth became a film star for a day as a Cross Channel packet boat in a movie starring Charlton Heston and Laurence Olivier: 21st August 1965: Princess Elizabeth – Kingswear Castle
On 20th August 1965 Princess Elizabeth ran a day trip from Weymouth to Yarmouth IOW. How did it go? Were they on time? And who were some of the people doing it? 20th August 1965: Princess Elizabeth – Kingswear Castle
Services are still running on the Chiemsee in Bavaria but, due to the low water level in the lake, have been unable to call at Seebruck and Übersee/Feldwies since 3rd August: Home – Chiemsee Schifffahrt
Low water levels on the River Elbe, due to the lack of rain, have been preventing the regular paddle steamer sailings from Dresden and in Saxon Switzerland. As things stand at the moment the water level at Dresden is rising but the company’s website says (am on 18th August) that all cruises remain cancelled until…
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On 19th August 1926 RMS Columba ran, as usual, on the Royal Route from Glasgow to Ardrishaig. She was a huge and luxuriously appointed paddle steamer loaded with high end amenities – you could even get your hair cut aboard:19th August 1926: Columba to Ardrishaig – Kingswear Castle
On Tuesday 18th August 1953 you could have boarded any one of four paddle steamers at Bournemouth Pier which offered fifteen departures including to Swanage, Totland Bay IOW, Southampton and Weymouth. This is what they did: 18th August 1953: Bournemouth – Kingswear Castle
Low river levels on the Rhine are disrupting KD’s passenger ship schedules with, amongst other cancellations, the paddle driven Goethe, which usually operates the Nostalgia route between Koblenz and Rudesheim, currently replaced by the shallower draft MS Asbach which itself is only able to operate between Boppard and Rudesheim. For a fuller picture check out…
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Low water levels are affecting sailings on Lake Zurich. As of 17th August there are service restrictions as follows: Also only the paddle steamer Stadt Zurich has been in service this season. Following work on her machinery last winter PS Stadt Rapperswil has been unable to run trials due to a shortage of personnel. She…
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On the afternoon of Sunday 17th August 1959, the 1911 built PS Embassy had a rendezvous at Portland with Nautilus, a US nuclear powered submarine from a different age and another world: 17th August 1958: Embassy – Kingswear Castle
Cosens not only offered paddle steamer trips to Lulworth Cove but also from it as well. If you had been there on 17th August 1937 you would have had 5 trip options to take you to Weymouth, Swanage or Bournemouth: 17th August 1937: Sailings from Lulworth Cove – Kingswear Castle
On 16th August 1958 Bristol Queen was scheduled to run from Bristol to Ilfracombe. But P & A Campbell were already in deep financial trouble. Would the receiver have to be called in? Would she come out again next year? 16th August 1958: Bristol Queen – Kingswear Castle
In the 1960s former Plymouth tender Sir Richard Grenville found a new life in the Channel Islands running a complex schedule including connecting Jersey and St Malo – previously run by British Railways. She had an old-fashioned feel to her even then: 15th-22nd August 1966: A Week in the Life of La Duchesse de Normandie…
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