After spending the afternoon of Sunday 31st August 1958 running on the Bournemouth/Swanage service with departures from Bournemouth at 2.30pm and 4pm and returns from Swanage at 3.15pm and 5pm Monarch was rostered for the Late Night New Orleans Jazz Cruise, “The River Boat Shuffle”, with Gerry Brown’s Jazzmen and the Kapota leaving Bournemouth Pier at 8pm and returning to Poole Quay at 12.30am with coach return to Bournemouth.
Unfortunately only 60 passengers turned up for the event so the decision was taken to cancel the trip and refund the ticket money.
With empty decks Monarch cast off about 8.10pm and made her way back to her overnight berth alongside Poole Quay where she arrived around 9.15pm giving the crew an earlier night than had been planned.
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 31st August 2020.
