Category Archives: Pictures of the Month

In 1960, Cdr Edmund Rhodes bought the paddle steamer Princess Elizabeth from Red Funnel of Southampton and put her into service running coastal trips from Torquay to the River Dart,

Kingswear Castle season ticket holder and retired P & O ferry captain, Mike Ledger, has come across these fascinating pictures taken by, and of, his family on paddle steamers at

The first week in August 1960 was a busy one for Cosens’ little Consul as she packed in a wide variety of trips from her base at Weymouth. Here she

It is now seventy years since the retreating British army was evacuated from the beaches of Dunkirk in late May and early June 1940. This massive operation was made possible

One of my tip top favourite places anywhere in the world is Lausanne-Ouchy. It has a harbour stuffed full of paddle steamers. It faces south onto Lake Geneva and across

The paddle steamer Wingfield Castle (pictured above leaving Hull) was built in 1934 by William Gray & Co of Hartlepool for the railway passenger and car ferry service on the

Capt Harry Defrates (pictured above) joined Cosens of Weymouth after the Second World War and sailed as master of several of their paddle steamers including the Embassy, Victoria, Monarch and

Talisman is described as using 0.75 tons of Diesel per hour on full power and 0.6 tons per hour “economical”. Her bunkers are said to be for 25 tons so

Before the 1951 season Cosens & Co bought the Portsmouth to Ryde railway paddle steamer Shanklin as a replacement for their veteran twin funnelled Monarch of 1888 which had been

The shipyard at Lucerne has a busy life maintaining in tip top condition the large fleet of passenger vessels on the lake as well as undertaking outside commissions. It also

Operational paddle tugs have pretty much disappeared from rivers, estuaries and harbours everywhere, so it was good to see one survivor still in active service on the River Elbe in

After a long and distinguished career on Lake Lucerne, Captain Alois Kaufmann made his last voyage in command of the paddle steamer Stadt Luzern on Sunday 18th October before retiring.

In many respects the 1950s may very well have been a golden, tranquill and safe age particularly when viewed through the rose tinted spectacles of memory but it was not

Sixty years ago, 1949 was not a good year for UK paddle steamers with no less than five withdrawn and ultimately scrapped: Dundee, Lucy Ashton, Monarch, Duchess of Cornwall and

Chris Wood (pictured above left at the helm of the Fairmile B Poole Belle (2) with Neil “Smiler” Purdy, right) has not only enjoyed two highly successful professional careers simultaneously

Anyone want to buy a pier? Totland Bay Pier on the Isle of Wight is up for sale. It featured in the auction of Barnard Marcus in London on 8th

What could this paddle steamer Ariadne be? And why isn’t this magnificent steamship listed in any of the books about European paddle steamers? Clearly she looks a fine, if slightly

Capt Shippick (pictured on the extreme left in the front row) wrote the letter below to the Bournemouth Times in 1948. I have re-produced it in easier to read type

The immediate post Second World War period was quite a buoyant time for UK paddle steamer operations with services being re-introduced around the country and passengers teeming up the gangways

At first glance this paddle steamer looks as if it has been attacked by a swarm of gigantic bees which have gone to work transforming it into a floating honeycomb.