On Thursday 26th January 1961 the Bournemouth Echo ran a piece announcing that Monarch had been sold for scrap in Cork, Southern Ireland and that the PSPS was to hold a meeting at the Cathedral Hotel in Salisbury the following Sunday at which the main topic of debate was expected to be the Monarch.
The cutting says that the Monarch was to make “her last voyage today”. It was not in fact until the following Tuesday that she was towed away from her layup berth in the Weymouth Backwater through the Town Bridge and up to the Pleasure Pier where she was moored to await the weather for the sea-going tug for the tow to Ireland.
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 26th January 2021.
