On Wednesday 18th July 1962 Medway Queen left Strood as scheduled at 9.15am and Southend at 10.55am for Clacton where she was due to arrive at 1.25pm to take up a “Sea Trip” from Clacton Pier 2.45pm to 4.15pm before returning to Southend at 6.40pm and Strood at 8.40pm. However on reaching Clacton it was considered too windy to land alongside the pier so she returned with her passengers back to Southend and Strood.
There were other windy days in the summer of 1962 with Medway Queen getting only as far as Southend on Sunday 22nd July before cancelling the rest of the trip to Clacton and spending the day lying at anchor in the Nore anchorage until the evening return from Southend at 6.40pm to Strood.
On Sunday 26th August she managed to reach Clacton but was again unable to tie up there due to the wind. On her return it was considered too windy to call at Southend either so all the passengers were returned to Strood with those for Southend having to take the train and Tibury ferry to get back home. Those waiting for the return from Southend Pier to Strood at 6.40pm had to do the same the other way round.
Kingswear Castle returned to service in 2023 after the first part of a major rebuild which is designed to set her up for the next 25 years running on the River Dart. The Paddle Steamer Kingswear Castle Trust is now fund raising for the second phase of the rebuild. You can read more about the rebuilds and how you can help if you can here.
John Megoran
This article was first published on 18th July 2021.
