Monthly paddle steamer articles written by John Megoran, author, manager and principal captain of Kingswear Castle for nearly 30 years on the Medway and the Thames as well as the River Dart.
You can read more of John’s paddle steamer reminiscences in his regular Megoran’s Musings features on the Paddle Steamer Preservation Society website here.
Choose a year to see more Pictures of the Month:
December 2015:
Paddle Steamer Letters to the Editor 1937
Before the advent of Twitter, Facebook and TripAdvisor gave everyone an instant platform on which to express their views, paddle steamer passengers of an earlier age had only the humble
November 2015:
Paddle Steamer Princess Elizabeth Sold for Scrap
After his brave but ultimately unsuccessful attempts to run the paddle steamer Consul on the Sussex Coast and Thames in 1963 and from Weymouth in 1964 the young Mr A
October 2015:
UK Paddle Steamers October 1965
In October 1965, half a century ago, there were twenty two paddle steamers left in the UK. Let’s have a look at where they all were that month and what
September 2015:
Paddle Steamers September 1965
There was a lot going in paddle steamer circles in September 1965. Some of the news was good. Some was less good and, with the wind blowing the way that
July 2015:
Paddle Steamers at Weymouth 1965 (Part 3 of 3)
Weymouth Harbour in an aerial shot taken in April 1965 with, in the Backwater on the left, the Princess Elizabeth, with her red funnel, getting ready to go to Southampton
June 2015:
Paddle Steamers at Weymouth 1965 (Part 2 of 3)
The day after her return from slipping at Southampton and the day after the Embassy had had her close encounter with Ballard Point, the Princess Elizabeth (pictured above backing out
June 2015:
Paddle Steamers at Weymouth 1965 (Part 1 of 3)
Fifty years ago, 1965 was a landmark year for paddle steamers with a Weymouth connection. It was the last year in which a paddle steamer was based at Weymouth with
May 2015:
Paddle Steamer Waverley Season 1973
On 1st January 1973 the Caledonian Steam Packet Company, owners of the Waverley, acquired most of the vessels in the fleet of MacBraynes and emerged newly constituted as Caledonian MacBrayne.
April 2015:
Paddle Steamer Captain Given Clock in Recognition of his Courtesy
In response to a suggestion that Zostera green weed should be re-introduced to Poole Harbour to help stop the channels from silting up, The Bournemouth Evening Echo, for 3rd March
March 2015:
Paddle Steamer Bournemouth Queen to the Rescue
On 5th August 1937 Red Funnel’s Bournemouth Queen (pictured above) rescued two teenage girls from Walthamstow who got lost in fog in a rowing boat off the east coast of
February 2015:
Paddle Steamer Golden Eagle Goes to War February 1915
The Golden Eagle was built in 1909 by John Brown & Co on the Clyde for the General Steam Navigation Company’s services on the Thames from Fresh Wharf, next to
January 2015:
P & A Campbell Paddle Steamers go to War
The era from around 1900 to the outbreak of the First World War fourteen years later was a calm, peaceful and prosperous age for the UK and European tourism and
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