Category Archives: News

The November edition of Ships Monthly is now out. Highlights include John Megoran’s article on Paddlers on the Elbe and his regular Preservation News column, together with all the usual

I first encountered the great Wagner conductor Sir Reginald “Reggie” Goodall on a train from London to Chatham in 1985, during my first season running Kingswear Castle. At the time

To mark 60 years of Ships Monthly, the October edition includes a special feature looking back over 60 years of paddle steamers, in Britain and elsewhere, since 1966. Like all

On Friday 2nd October 2026 Paddle Steamer Waverley celebrated a phenomenal 80 years since she was first launched. This anniversary is particularly significant given how few steam ships have ever

Built in Liverpool, the new publicly owned ferry, Royal Daffodill, made her debut in service on the Mersey on Saturday 26th September 2026. At a cost of £26 million, she

Waverley returned to the Thames on Thursday 24th September for a series of trips and will be running in the area up to Sunday 11th October. On Friday 25th September

Waverley made a rare call at Newhaven on the morning of Tuesday 22nd September 2026 Before Waverley arrived on the scene, Newhaven had a long history as a base for

On Tuesday 8th September KC ran a special trip from Dartmouth at 3.30pm for Totnes 5.15pm with passengers mostly for the round trip back to Dartmouth but with some getting

KC returned to service in sparkling form on Monday 15th June 2026 after completion of Phase 2 of her major rebuild. The first part in 2023/24 included renewing all the

The first steamship trip of the season on Lake Lucerne was taken by Stadt Luzern on Saturday 18th April sailing away from Lucerne at 11.12 to Fluelen 14.00 and back

Join Kingswear Castle on Tuesday 8th September 2026 for her only planned sailing to Totnes this year. All sailings are now sold out. Kingswear Castle will depart Dartmouth at 3.30pm,

Members of the Paddle Steamer Kingswear Castle Trust board, along with PSPS Chairman John Allen, visited KC in the Dartmouth shipyard on Thursday 19th March to see how the work

Peter Walker, who died on 29th December 2025, had a three-pronged career as Merchant Navy officer, Accountant and Farmer. Born in 1941 he went to sea as a cadet with

KC was taken out of the water on the Old Mill covered slipway on Thursday 8th January. Work is continuing apace on Phase 2 of her major rebuild. This will

2025 was not a good summer season for the CGN paddle steamers on Lake Geneva with only the diesel electric Italie and Vevey in service during the peak weeks out

The Dampferzeitung magazine has asked the managements of paddle steamers on a number of the Swiss lakes for their assessments of how the 2025 season has panned out for them.

The CGN has published the timetable for October on Lake Geneva. Montreux and Italie are scheduled to be in service every day until Sunday 12th October with Montreux based at

The legendary opera and ballet conductor Richard Bonynge celebrated his 95th birthday on 29th September. His main home, which he shared with his wife until her death in 2010, is

The weather has not been kind to Waverley for her visit to the South West this year. But she did make it to Dartmouth to meet KC on Saturday 30th

The weather has not been kind to Waverley for her visit to the South West this year with fresh to strong winds causing many cancellations. However she did make it