The P.S. Waverley is unique, in being the last operational sea going paddle steamer in the world. Built in 1946 by A. & J. Inglis, as a direct replacement for a steamer of the same name, sunk off Dunkirk by enemy action in 1940, she entered service in 1947, on the Craigendoran to Arrochar route, via Lochgoilhead; that is the Clyde, Loch Long and Loch Goil. By 1972, Waveley was the last paddle steamer in the world with a "deep sea" passenger carrying certificate and was marketed as such. However, this did not improve the revenue stream, and her then owners, Caledonian MacBrayne, sold her late in 1973 to the Paddle Steamer Preservation Society for the token sum of £1.
Since then, she has gone from strength to strength under her new managment. Restored and repainted, she has extended her range from the home base in the Clyde, to the Bristol Channel, the South coast, from Weymouth to Margate, the Thames and it's estuary, round the East coast to Ipswich. A regular timetable of well publicised cruises, has brought back from the dead, the pleasure of an off shore steamer trip, which was once such a popular feature of so many of our seaside resorts.
On the 10th October 1999 my Wife and I went on what was to be her last Thames cruise, before returning to her home base for an extensive, £3.5 million refit. This was advertised as a "Paddle steamer parade", and envolved a cruise down the Thames to Southend, via Tilbury, and then along the Medway to meet the Paddle steamer preservation society's other steamer, the Kingswear Castle, for a "photo opportunity!"
Waverley moored at the new Tower Pier on the morning of 10th October 1999,
with the tug, needed for turning in the Pool, moored alongside.
Waverley dwarfed by the buildings of the City of London!
Waverley being pulled through 180 degrees by the tug.
Tower bridge closing behind us.
North Greenwich and the Dome!
The Queen Elizabeth Bridge and the M25 crosses the Thames!
Waverley's engine room.
The engineer in charge of the engine room!
Our arrival at Southend Pier, on the same side as where Radio Caroline,
that is the Ross Revenge, was previously moored. Note the change in the weather!
Entering the Medway, Sheerness, the fort and old passenger terminal.
We meet the vintage paddle steamer Kingswear Castle at Gillingham.
The Kingswear Castle, the other paddle steamer belonging to the Preservation Society,
parades past at full speed!
A closer view of Kingswear Castle, built in 1924 for the River dart in Devon, her engine
and many fixtures and fittings come from her 1904 predecessor of the same name.
Radio Caroline, or the Ross Revenge at her new moorings in the Medway.
On the return trip, and we catch up with the back of the weather front!
A surrealist view of the dome at night, there's a bit of camera shake in this
and the next photo, because of the boat's vibration and the long exposure needed.
A floodlit Tower Bridge opens for our night return to the Pool of London.
All images Copyright Dr. C. F. Parsons 1999