On Saturday 5th May 1962 Cardiff Queen, under the command of Captain Leo Virgo, was rostered to run on the Cardiff/Weston ferry. Having started the day before Good Friday on Thursday 18th April she had run until the following Friday, which she had off ,before being out once again during the weekend Saturday 28th and Sunday 29th April on the Cardiff/Weston ferry. She had then spent the whole week from Monday 30th April to Friday 4th May tied up and doing nothing. Now this weekend 5th and 6th May she was out once more on the ferry run. She was the only P & A Campbell steamer in steam at this time with Bristol Queen not scheduled to join her until the end of the month.
On this Saturday 5th May, Cardiff Queen was rostered to be to be away from Cardiff at 9.30am for Penarth and Weston where she dropped off passengers for a day at the seaside before collecting others at 10.35am to bring them back for a day out in Penarth or for the shops or other attractions and activities in Cardiff. Low water was in the afternoon preventing further runs on the ferry so it was not until 5.35pm that she set off from Cardiff once again for Penarth and Weston. She then picked up at Weston at 7.30pm for return to Cardiff shortly after 8.30pm. The following day was a broadly similar schedule with one extra round trip rostered for later in the morning and another in the evening.
After that from Monday 7th May through to Friday 12th May once again she was rostered to be tied up doing nothing. She had been to Ilfracombe twice so far this season on Easter Saturday 21st April and and Easter Monday 23rd. The next Down Channel trip was not advertised to run from Weston until Wednesday 23rd May.
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 5th May 2021.
