Paddle Steamer Waverley

For a change from the usual motoring articles we have in the Big End I thought I would write about one of my other interests, the Paddle Steamer Waverley. I usually manage to have three or four trips a year on Waverley and hope to encourage some of you to also experience this historic ship.

Waverley is the world’s last sea-going paddle steamer. She was built to replace a vessel of the same name which was lost due to enemy action in May l940, while returning with troops from the Dunkirk beaches. The new Waverley was launched from A. & J. Inglis's yard on the Clyde at Glasgow on October 2nd 1947, building having started the previous year. She was built for the London & North Eastern Railway Company for their services out of Craigendoran on the Clyde. Waverley remained the property of the L.N.E.R. only a short while as in 1948 under nationalisation she was transferred to the ownership of the British Transport Commission and her attractive red white and black funnels changed to a drab buff. Her ownership changed again in 1951 when she was transferred to the British Transport Commission's Scottish shipping subsidiary, The Caledonian Steam Packet Co. Ltd. By 1972 she was the last paddle steamer of the once great Clyde fleet and again changed ownership with the merger of the C.S.P.Co. with David MacBrayne to form Caledonian MacBrayne.

Waverley ran mainly as a summer excursion steamer on the Upper Firth of Clyde but also did ferry work, including carrying sheep from Arran! She began to range further afield on the Clyde when her more elderly sisters were retired as the rise in car ownership and cheap foreign holidays bit into the excursion trade. The Paddle Steamer Preservation Society, which had been formed some years earlier, tried hard to promote use of the Waverley but at the end of 1973, although she had carried more passengers than in any of the previous 10 years, she was taken out of service. This was blamed on increasing maintenance costs and break downs of the now ageing machinery.

On 6th August 1974 Waverley was sold to the Paddle Steamer Preservation Society for the price of one pound. Many thought she would now become a static museum exhibit but the P.S.P.S. had other ideas. With grants from Glasgow Corporation and Strathclyde Region they managed to get her dry docked and limited repairs were carried out to get her ready for the 1975 season. The P.S.P.S. set up the Waverley Steam Navigation Co. to run the ship and, re-painted in her original attractive L.N.E.R. colours, she has run under their flag ever since.

The short Scottish summer season had always been a problem for the Clyde excursion steamers and it was decided to send Waverley further afield to gain more revenue. In May 1977 she left the Firth of Clyde for the first time for a short season on the Irish Sea. In 1978 she steamed round Lands End to cruise the South coast, and from then on she has cruised to most parts of the British Isles, concentrating on those areas like the Bristol Channel, South Coast and Thames Estuary which once had extensive paddle steamer services of their own. Although it was a struggle at first and many thought the venture would fail Waverley's fortunes have gradually improved and last year, during her 50th Anniversary, she was granted a 3 million pound lottery grant to allow a complete strip down and rebuild to allow her to continue sailing into the 21st century.

Waverley is 239.6 feet long by 30.2 feet wide (excluding the paddle boxes) she has a draught of 6.5 feet. She has two funnels and is powered by the original triple expansion steam engine. The engine room has a viewing gallery along each side where you can watch the mighty engines turning. This is an original feature, paddle steamers have always been very proud of their engines and have usually provided such facilities. This dates right back to the days when steam propulsion of ships was the latest thing. Her boiler was originally coal fired but was converted to oil in 1957. By the late 1970s her boiler was at the end of its life and was very inefficient. It was replaced in the winter of 1980/81 with a modern unit greatly decreasing her fuel consumption.

Waverley has two bars, a self-service cafeteria and a souvenir shop. There is plenty of seating on the decks and two deck shelters for inclement weather, not to mention the comfortable saloon seating in the bars.

If you would like to sample a cruise on this historic ship she spends the summer months in her traditional cruising grounds of the Firth of Clyde but usually spends September cruising the South Coast. In 1999 she will be based in Southampton from Sept 3rd to 29th for cruises in tine Solent, around the Isle of Wight and along the Dorset coast to Bournemouth, Swanage and Weymouth. From September 30th to October 12th she will be based on the Thames, cruising from Tower Pier in London, Tilbury and Southend to Clacton, Ipswich₁ Whitstable and the River Medway. On the River Medway she will meet up with the P.S.P.S's other paddle steamer Kingswear Castle.

Kingswear Castle is a river paddle steamer originally built for service on the River Dart in Devon, between Dartmouth and Totnes. Kingswear Castle was built in 1924 using an engine made in 1904 from a previous vessel, also named Kingswear Castle. She was restored by the P.S.P.S. and is now based on the River Medway at the Chatham Historic Dockyard. She provides a weekend summer service between Rochester and Chatham Dockyard (well worth a visit it its own right) plus afternoon cruises and special excursions.

Waverley Excursions also own and run the vintage pleasure cruise ship Balmoral. She was originally purchased to increase the number of day cruises available and thus help to keep the piers that Waverley relies on open. Although diesel powered she is 50 years old this year and has become a firm favourite in her own right. She spends the main summer season cruising on the Bristol Channel, with trips around the rest of Britain in early and late season.

Dave Robins

Originally published in the internet magazine 'Big End' http://www.oxinet.co.uk/csma and reproduced by permission of the Editor.

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