PADDLE STEAMERS / BUTTERFLY BOATS

[A READER]

PS CARDIFF QUEEN

FROM Victorian times through to the 1960s, a steamer trip was one of the most popular days out for people in South Wales. Smart ships would leave piers or docks along the coast and cross the Bristol Channel to places like Minehead, Ilfracombe and Lundy Island. Weston-super-Mare was such a popular destination that the steamers provided a regular ferry service there from Cardiff.

One of the best-loved ships was the paddle steamer Cardiff Queen, the last and most modern steamer built for local shipping company P&A Campbell. It cut a dashing picture with its two slender funnels, smart black and white paint scheme and a broad white wake from the paddle wheels on either side of the hull. The interior was beautifully finished and the facilities included a bar and a restaurant offering silver service.

But day cruises went into decline in the post-war decades. They were seen as old-fashioned at a time of growing car ownership, and a series of wet summers in the late 1950s didn't help. The opening of the Severn Bridge on September 8 1966 made road journeys to Weston-super-Mare, Somerset and Devon easier and quicker, and less than a fortnight later, on September 21, Cardiff Queen carried its last passengers. A plan to turn it into a nightclub in Newport fell through, and the ship was cut up in a Newport scrapyard in 1968.

The river Clyde was more fortunate, having kept hold of the paddle steamer Waverley - built the same year as Cardiff Queen. Now Waverley is a major tourist draw for Glasgow and nearby islands. Each year it visits the Bristol Channel where, on fine weekends or bank holidays, it can sell out.

A sister ship, a former Isle of Wight ferry called Balmoral, is based on the Bristol Channel. It offers day cruises to many destinations but doesn't exert the same pull as the elegant Cardiff Queen would do today.

Apr 15 2006 Rhodri Clark, Western Mail

[Keith at Tregenna]

PS Barry 1907 - 2007

We were coming to the end of the Centenary year of the Paddle Steamer “Barry”, a vessel built for and named after the Town of Barry and we thougt it appropriate for the Town and Council to mark the occasion.

The Paddle Steamer Barry achieved everlasting fame by sailing to the Mediterranean in the First World War and carrying troops at the Gallipoli landings.

The Steamer was built at the world-famous shipyard of John Brown on Clydebank for the Barry Railway Company’s fleet and sailed on her trials in May, 1907, before leaving the Clyde to begin her pleasure steamer career from Barry and the Bristol Channel.

The Barry’s war service was outstanding. She steamed to the Mediterranean, served as a transport at Gallipoli, was the last ship to leave after the evacuation and later served at Salonika.

When the ship was sold to P&A Campbell to become part of the White Funnel Fleet Barry was re-named Waverley. The vessel was of similar size to her name sake, the Waverley of today the link between Barry and the present Waverley is also unique.

After the First World War, she returned to pleasure steamer sailings when the ship continued to give pleasure to countless thousands of passengers until 1939. She returned to serve the country again in the Second World War as a navy minesweeper, until she was bombed and sunk off the north east coast of England in 1941.

A poem, which captures this history, was written by Captain J S Earl and commissioned by ‘Her Name Was Tregenna’; a locally based web site created as a tribute to Captain William Thomas Care of Barry and his crew, lost due to enemy action.

It was and is intended as a gift to the Town and people of Barry and its Merchant Seamen. The poem is featured from our main page: See: POEMS SECTION, the PS BARRY is featured under OTHER SHIP - PS BARRY.

The PS Barry poem has been formerly presented to the Mayor and Barry Town Council by Captain Earl, Merchant Navy Association (Wales), Barry Branch, and representatives of "TREGENNA". BARRY SEAMEN and BARRY DOCK - LOADING COAL again by Joe Earl were also presented at the reception in the Mayors Parlour.

The Merchant Navy Association of Wales following the recent re-enactment of the Frreedom March, has hosted a Maritime Exhibition at the NEW STATE OF THE ART LIBRARY in Barry. The PS BARRY poem along with BARRY SEAMEN and BARRY DOCK - LOADING COAL by Captain Joe Earl were presented to the Mayor and the Vale of Glamorgan County Council by The Merchant Navy officials on the opening day.

The PS BARRY POEM will be presented to the Company, Captain and crew of the Barry's nearest surving relative PS WAVERLEY and the Paddle Steamer Preservation Society on board, during a reception at the end of May 2008.

(This planned May event will now be revised following the latest news and time table revision: please see below).

Latest News

TIMETABLE REVISON

Following a successful Bank Holiday weekend sailing in the Western Isles of Scotland, Paddle Steamer Waverley has entered a Clyde shipyard to undergo annual maintenance. It has been discovered that detailed work will be required on the shaft which drives the Ship's famous paddles.

The ship was originally expected to be two weeks in the yard but this has now been slightly extended.

Operations Director Ian McMillan said 'Waverley is in a shipyard at Greenock with a great Scottish tradition and everyone will be working hard to get her ready for her summer sailings.

Waverley - the last seagoing Paddle Steamer in the World, was rebuilt in 2003 with a Heritage Lottery Grant and restored to her original glory.

Waverley's summer season will start on the Clyde on June 13 sailing to the Lochs and Islands of the West Coast of Scotland before she moves to the South Coast and Thames, returning to the Clyde in October.

The spring sailings will go ahead in the Bristol Channel as planned though some midweek sailings will be postponed. Waverley's consort Balmoral will carry out the popular sailings.

Balmoral will also sail from Barrow, Whitehaven and Garlieston to the Isle of Man from May 29 until June 2, then visit the South Coast, Thames, North Wales & Liverpool, and the Bristol Channel before following the QE2 on her farewell tour of Britain.

Kathleen O'Neill, Commercial Director said 'We look forward to welcoming our passengers on board Balmoral for the sailings in the Bristol Channel. We would like to invite those passengers whose cruise is no longer running as scheduled to choose another sailing from our programme of cruises and travel at no extra cost - even if it is a more expensive cruise.'

A revised date for the PS BARRY POEM presentation will be announced ASAP.

[A READER]

Gertie survived bombs but not the scrap yard

Mar 18 2008 by Dan O'Neill, South Wales Echo

HER name is Medway Queen and she should remind us of what we’ve missed in Cardiff.

She sits rusting in the mud and murk of Kent’s River Medway but now there is a campaign to save her – as she saved 7,000 British and French troops during those momentous five days from May 29 to June 2 in 1940.

Yes, she was part of that astonishing armada that has become legend, one of those fabled “little ships” flip-flopping across the Channel to Dunkirk during the darkest week in our history to turn the tide of war. So why couldn’t we have saved one of our own little ships to sit in triumph, perhaps in Cardiff Bay, a marvellous monument to glorious times past?

They sailed from South Wales to pluck our men from the beaches just as the Medway Queen did, like others from Clyde and the Western isles, from Weymouth and Bournemouth and the Sussex coast. They’d been part of our lives for a century and no-one has caught their magic better than JB Priestley in one of his renowned wartime broadcasts. So popular, in fact, it’s said that Churchill got Priestley off air because he was being outshone as Spokesman for Britain.

“We have known these fussy little steamers and laughed at them all our lives. We watched them load and unload their crowds of holiday passengers, the gents full of high spirits and bottled beer, the ladies eating pork pies, the children sticky with peppermint rock... these Brighton Queens and Brighton Belles left that innocent, foolish world of theirs to sail into the inferno, to defy bombs and shells, magnetic mines and torpedoes.”

He finished the broadcast trusting that “our great-grandchildren will learn how our little holiday steamers made an excursion to hell – and came back glorious”.

Well, they went from Wales into that inferno and although they earned the glory, some never did come back.

Priestley’s Brighton Belle and Brighton Queen became part of Campbell’s famed White Funnel fleet between the wars, sea-slapping their way across to Weston or Ilfracombe, offering leisurely summer cruises along our coast. They’d leave from the old Pier Head, a pick-up at Penarth, the Devonia and Cambria, Waverley and Westward Ho and the three Glens, Avon, Gower and Usk, those “fussy little steamers”.

They found immortality at Dunkirk, but they’d been to hell and back before as minesweepers during the Great War, one even going as far as the Dardanelles. Sailors watching them as they danced and dazzled over the water called them “butterfly boats”.
And here they were again a quarter century on, transformed into lifelines for thousands of shell-shocked soldiers, ready for that excursion to hell. And among them was our own Glen Gower.

They called her Galloping Gertie, a name revered by the men she saved, even if it does sound like a fondly-recalled old trouper from music hall days, some raucous-voiced brassy old blonde.

She’d been part of Cardiff life for 18 years before she went to war, a fun ship loud with laughter of families out for a sniff of sea salt, a bounce on the briny.

But as May slipped into June during that surreal summer of 1940, she became a work ship, part of what history remembers as the “Welsh Navy”, braving the Dunkirk storm to help make a miracle.

Gertie was on a mine-sweeping operation when the order came: “Return to harbour. Immediately.”

Straight to Dunkirk, where she ran aground, weighed down by extra coal taken on. But her crew rowed ashore to pick up soldiers, and those who couldn’t reach the boats swam or floated out clinging to planks. Gertie welcomed them all.

She was shoved into deep water by her old mate Waverley (rechristened Snaefell) and steamed out with 600 men aboard.
A shell smashed through her deck, killing 10 of the troops below as more men piled aboard.

She got back with 1,500 men, then off to hell again with more playmates from the past, Cambria, Westward Ho and Britannia. In three trips she saved 3,000 men, her crew gaping at exhausted Guardsmen – polishing their boots.

The Welsh Navy paid a heavy price. Brighton Belle and Brighton Queen were sunk, Devonia was beached after being bombed, while Snaefell went under in July, 1941, Glen Avon in September, 1944.

Gertie survived. But in 1960 she made another crossing, this time to a Belgian yard where she was broken up like Glen Usk, Cambria, Westward Ho and Britannia.

Apart from Medway Queen they leave us nothing but their names. A pity! What a monument to that glorious past Gertie would have made.

[A READER]

I hope you do not mind my postings, they in my mind are of extreme interest and although I have no knowledge of copy right etc hope that the content is allowed: AR.

Waverley taking terrorist threats on board

May 3 2008 by Rhodri Clark, South Wales Echo

SHIPS continuing the tradition of pleasure cruises from Penarth pier have been modified against terrorist attack.

The paddle steamer Waverley will start the 2008 cruising season this month, and sister ship Balmoral will sail on the Bristol Channel through the summer.

Regulations have been tightened because of the threat of attacks on shipping by terrorist organisations.

On most ships, engine rooms must be locked to stop passengers getting into them.

The boat’s owners say Waverley’s famous steam engines – which currently remain on public view – will have to be locked whenever Britain is on heightened terror alert.

On both ships the captain’s bridge will also have to be formally sealed from public access – although this area was always off-limits anyway.

Waverley Excursions, which operates the ships, said the Transport Security and Contingencies Directorate had inspected the vessels.

“We will comply with the regulations as they apply to our ships,” said spokeswoman Fiona Nicolson.

“Passengers will be able to see the steam engines working if they go on Waverley.”

In 1974 Waverley was saved from the scrapyard by members of the Paddle Steamer Preservation Society (PSPS).

PSPS chairman Myra Allen said: “The threat of terrorism is not something normally associated with paddle steamers and coastal cruising, but unfortunately in recent years it has invaded our lives in many ways.”

Alan Hobson, chairman of the PSPS’s Bristol Channel branch, said the alterations would not spoil the public’s enjoyment.
“Only if the very severe security warning came from the Government would it make any difference,” said Mr Hobson, of Cardiff.

“We have to comply with the rules of the game. It’s part of the world we live in.”

Lifelong enthusiast Terry Sylvester, of Barry, said: “Waverley’s great engine room will remain open to public view. Waverley’s bridge will have keypad access, a bit like the principle of people not being allowed to walk into the controls of an airliner.”
He did not think Waverley and Balmoral were targets for terrorists.

“They’re not going to take Waverley to block the port of Rotterdam,” said Mr Sylvester, former managing director of the Waverley organisation.

But he said the authorities had been sensitive and fair in the way the rules were applied to the ships.

Waverley kicks off the summer season with a day trip from Newport and Penarth to Ilfracombe on May 24. Other cruises will take passengers under the Severn motorway bridges and Newport Transporter Bridge.

[e-mail]

[INFO AT TREGENNA]

Sir, we will attempt to get permissions, otherwise we will have to remove the material, this may take some time. However, the topic will remain and hopefuly be expanded. We do hope that as you have mentioned the source and we do not profit etc, that the originators will grant such permission and that we can both promote said sources and the media that they originate from.

Personally I find the articles both to be informative and of great interest. Fingers crossed on outcome, but meanwhile, we hope that all interested parties will enjoy them and view the originals from the sources etc. KG.

[INFO AT TREGENNA]

Well worth a look to all interested parties is the Paddle Steamer Picture Gallery an extensive library of pictures and descriptions of British Paddle and Pleasure Steamers.

The Paddle Steamer Picture Gallery shows images of some recent and some long gone ships that will hold memories for many of those of us over a certain age. It is not intended to be a "high tech" site, as this is not in keeping with the images and subjects that are contained there. I do hope, however, that you will find it clear and informative and that you will find it easy to get around. Any suggestions for improvement would be welcomed.

We at "Tregenna" thank Mr. Tom Lee for all assistance with our PS. (Paddle Steamer) Barry project. All those interested will find The Paddle Steamer Picture Gallery in a simple Google search, although we hope to add a direct link from our home page in the near future.

[Administrator]

W E Groom Collection: This is an introduction to the unique and comprehensive collection of paddle and pleasure steamer memorabilia of the Edwardian collector Ted Groom.

Ted Groom's life story has now been published in a book by his grand daughter Victoria.

"Teds Clacton Belle"
A new publication by Author Victoria Groom

The book contains an introduction by Peter Box, who is the foremost authority on the Belle Steamers and who has several highly acclaimed pleasure steamer books to his name. "Teds Clacton Belle" is not a technical book but the true story of a very ordinary South London Gas Company employee who had a passion for Paddle Steamers and who salvaged furnishings and ephemera for the sheer pleasure of enriching his home. Much of the rescued items have survived and a large part of the collection is now in the safe custody of his Grand-daughter Victoria. She has painstakingly researched his life and 'Ted's Clacton Belle' by Victoria Groom is an enchanting story which will give pleasure to steamer enthusiasts and those who enjoy a good read alike. "Ted's Clacton Belle" also contains many of the previously unpublished photographs taken by Ted Groom in the early part of the twentieth century, along with photos of some of the artefacts that still survive. The book launch took place aboard PS Waverley on the London to Clacton trip.

"Teds Clacton Belle": The story of William Edward (Ted) Groom, the Edwardian Paddle Steamer enthusiast, has been published by author Victoria Groom.

Victoria has kindly agreed that visitors to thie Paddle Steamer Picture Gallery can have their copy of the book signed by her at no additional cost. (Please look up the PSPG, for further infomation and also mention "Tregenna" if you would.

The Book is available by Mail Order and enquiries should be made to the author, Victoria Groom, who can be contacted on

Telephone: UK 01200 447600

The cost of the book is £10.00 including packaging and posting in UK. Overseas orders should add £2.25 for postage and packing.

Cheques should be drawn in sterling, in the UK and payable to Victoria Groom.

At least £1.00 for every book purchased will go to the Medway Queen Preservation Society.

ISBN 1 898722 50 1

Again "Tregenna" wish to thank both Tom Lee and also Victoria for the wonderful work that they have both done and continue to do and for every assistance given to us in our research etc.

KG.

[Administrator]

Well worth a look is:

Joe Earl
A SeaDolby Category Page

Joe was born in Sheffield in 1941. He left home at the age of 14 to attend the training ship `Indefatigable` in Anglesey, after almost two years there, he went to sea as Deck Boy in the Merchant Navy. He later obtained his Master's certificate and commanded ten ships during his career including five years as Captain of the Bristol Steam Navigation's `MV Apollo`. After being made redundant in 1991 he became a Tug Master working out of Avonmouth and Portbury until taking early retirement in October 2000. He now lives in Sand Bay, Weston-Super-Mare.

Current Works on Display at Seadolby.com

The Bosun

Alfie and Me

From a Russian Convoy

They Bore The Brunt

The Treganna Poem

Convoys

The Western Ocean Man

The Coal Scuttle Brigade

We reccomend a look at a Showcase of poems by Joe Earl at Seadolby.com

Captain Joe Earl has kindly penned several poems for "Tregenna" and is featured in our main page, POEMS SECTION. The PS Barry and the poems BARRY SEAMEN and BARRY DOCK - LOADING COAL have recently been presented to both the Town Mayor and the Mayor of the Vale of Glamorgan. Further, presented to Barry Town Council and the Vale of Glamorgan County Council.

We expect to present copies of the Poems to the Company, Captain and Crew of the present day PS. Waverley at the end of this month. (PS. Barry's oldest surviving relative).

We hope that in the future, Captain Joe Earl's trilogy of poems destined for the Town and people of Barry, South Wales will be formaly presented to all Schools and to the young of the town.

The Men Who Missed The Tide by Joe Earl

I was not born `till '41 - I wasn`t at the fore,
But later on I sailed with men - they told me what they saw,
There never was a `phony war` for the merchant men at sea,
Especially in the early years - with two men lost from three.
Sitting ducks for E-boats and explosives in `bomb ally`,
An easy moving target, from engine room to galley.
They were blown from burning ships - torpedoed by the Hun,
Or victims of atrocity - shot by a Nippon gun.

Plenty perished in lifeboats, many gave sharks a feast,
Still pretty much defenceless, the ships rolled West and East.
They sailed North in Russian convoys - braved the ice and foe,
Lived in hell conditions - and pitching, blind in snow.
Some sailed independent - they steamed South on their own,
Perchance to meet the U-boats - lurking `neath the foam.

Many thousand seamen died, risking life at sea,
It was the brave survivors - told me their history,
The lethal mines would sink them, or the `tinfish` - named by some. Or possibly a Junker - on a mortal bombing run.

Crews foundered in the ocean - black or freezing cold,
With mangled steel beneath them, `an pig-iron in the hold.
But if they shunned the enemy, and escaped the heaving slaughter,

Well they just signed on again, and went back to the water.
To the lads that never made it home - to all the men that died,
Wouldn`t it be apt to say they never made the tide?

Over forty years I`ve toiled at sea - aboard all types of craft,
But I doff my cap to those young souls, that went and joined a raft.

I`m mighty proud to march for them, on the 11th of November,
For this very special breed of men - I for one remember.
I haven't any medals - but wear my badge with pride,
As the bugle sounds the `last post` for the men who missed the tide.

J.S.Earl
Nov. 1998

CAPTAIN JOE EARL'S BOOK OF POEMS: is truly worth looking up. Order via your local Book selller or Amazon etc.

We at "Tregenna" wish to thank Joe for all the help and assistance that he has given to us and hope that this continues. We are truly in his debt and hope that he has every success with the proposed new publication.

Thank you Joe from "Tregenna" and Barry.

And for The Men Who Missed The Tide by Joe Earl

KG.

[A READER]

Pocketsful of coins sealed fate of ship tragedy passengers

Mar 17 2007 Martin Shipton, Western Mail

A LOCAL historian has uncovered fresh evidence about one of the most disastrous shipwrecks to have occurred off the Welsh coast.

One hundred and seventy six years ago today, on March 17 1831, up to 80 people died when the paddle steamer Frolic went down in the Bristol Channel off the Vale of Glamorgan.

New research shows how the disaster shocked the public in pre-Victorian Britain and set the wheels turning towards greater safety measures in the estuary.

Brian Keitch, a graduate in Welsh history who lives in Penarth, has spent six months travelling around Wales and England to uncover long-forgotten facts about the wreck.

And some good did come of the tragedy - the disaster prompted the building of two lighthouses at Nash Point which were to guide generations of sailors safely through the Severn Estuary.
The steamer was a regular passenger service plying between Haverfordwest, Paterchurch (now Pembroke Dock), Milford Haven, Tenby, Carmarthen and Bristol.

Mr Keitch said, "We now know that between 70 and 80 people embarked on the steamer, and that there was quite a variety of passengers. There was a general, a colonel, local merchants and servants. There were also families, some of whom it seems were planning to emigrate, perhaps to America.

"It seems that any slim chance the passengers had of surviving was destroyed by the fact that many of them were laden down with coins.

"The ship was under the command of Captain Edward Jenkins, assisted on this occasion by an experienced Bristol Channel pilot. Altogether, there were about 16 members of the crew."

Mr Keitch said the steamer had been sold to a Bristol company only the previous October, but had already become a popular means of travel from West Wales to Bristol. He said, "After embarking her passengers at Haverfordwest, Paterchurch, Milford and Tenby, Frolic headed off across Carmarthen Bay when a fierce gale blew up. Sailing on a following tide, few harbours at the time could have provided a safe haven. It was normal practice in such conditions to take the outer passage when approaching the Vale of Glamorgan coast to avoid the treacherous Nash Sands. Whatever happened in the steamer's last moments will never be known for sure because none of those aboard survived. Wreckage and bodies were washed ashore along a wide stretch of the Vale coastline."

Mr Keitch said, "Among the wreckage was found the captain, strapped to the mast with his infant son in his arms. He was survived by a pregnant wife and eight children. A woman's body was also found, similarly strapped to her child."

An investigation took place, as a result of which the lighthouses were erected.

Although a wonderful pice of reporting, this would be lost, unless you knew exactly what you were looking for, personally never heard of the "Frolic", So I guess I attempt to presercve the story and not simply plagurised someone elses work.

I hope that the reporter and the Newspaper will seet his posting as an honour and tribute to both the report and incedent.

[KG]

Paddle Steamer Princess Alice

Allthough not war related an interesting tale and worth looking at:

Thames Police - History Page - Princess Alice -

www.thamespolicemuseum.org.uk/h_alice_1.html

[A READER]

Remembering the FROLIC disaster

On Thursday, March 17, will fall the 180th anniversary of the loss of the local packet steamer Frolic on the Nash Sands, Vale of Glamorgan, en route from Haverfordwest to Bristol via Pembroke Dock, Milford Haven and Tenby.

Of the 80 or so who perished, many came from South Pembokeshire, including the captain. 1831 may seem a very long time ago, but many of the victims are buried in the local churchyards in the vicinity of the disaster and I wish to suggest that if sufficient people are interested in making a day trip, a coach could be arranged to make the journey to Nash Point and back. I am also in contact with Trinity House about the possibility of a tour of the lighthouse.

There are, incidentally, some excellent country inns nearby for refreshment and lunch.

It was as a direct result of the loss of the paddle steamer Frolic that Trinity Houses erected two lighthouses (within a year of the catastrophe) in 1832.

Interested parties may contact the organiser by e-mail:

brian [e-mail] or by texting 07982862671.

It has been suggested the event could be appropriately remembered by casting a wreath on the sea. For such a coastline of outstanding of natural beauty, the sea and rocks took a terrible toll of shipping over the centuries.

Brian Keitch,

Penarth

Also: il.youtube.com/watch?v=dpCIJ3sRLiY

[jean coombe]

I have enjoyed looking through your site, As I remember going to Weston and Ilfracombe On the Paddle boats. We would go down to have a look at huge
pistons going around. And it was nice and warm. GlenUsk, Cardiff Queen and the Bristol Queen. The latter I have seen several times where it was
docked at Weston. I was hoping to find out when the pier head dock in Cardiff collapsed and then closed.
Thank you
Jean Coombe
Cardiff