Kingswear Castle was presented with her South West Regional Flagship of the Year pennant by Alan Watson from National Historic Ships UK at Dartmouth on Thursday 30th May prior to setting out on a scheduled return trip up river to Totnes.
The Flagship Awards are made by National Historic Ships UK to operational historic vessels which have demonstrated their commitment to raising the profile of historic ships through public events which they undertake either at a national or local level to the widest possible audience. The award also includes a prize of £250.
It was a very good day which went very well. Local press and a couple of Devon magazine reporters were there as well as local radio which did a spot about the event earlier in the morning on their breakfast show. The BBC and ITV West Country evening news were both there as well and stayed aboard for the whole trip doing interviews along the way with Alan Watson, Richie Swingelhurst KC’s captain, and various others. The sun shone. There were about 100 passengers aboard and the Dart Railway put on a splendid buffet lunch.
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
