In her first season back in service in July 1985 KC ran on 26 operating days from her base at The Historic Dockyard Chatham. This included a visit to Gravesend, London and the West India Docks.
We were very grateful to Sir Stuart Pringle for providing us with such excellent facilities and a berth at the Historic Dockyard Chatham basically for nothing in that first year. We also hoped that there might be revenue to be had from piggy backing on the newly opened Dockyard visitors but in the end that turned out to be slender pickings and basically for sourcing revenue we were on our own.
At that time KC was licenced to carry passengers out into the Thames Estuary from the Medway and to take passengers from Southend out into the Estuary but was not permitted to carry passengers all the way across between the Medway and Southend. So on Thursdays, looking to capitalise of punters from Southend, we went across light ship to offer trips from Southend Pier at 11am, 2pm, 3.15 and 8pm.
The rest of the schedule this first July was made up from afternoon cruises down river to Darnet Ness, some school cruises, a few charters, some evening cruises and a couple of day trips out into the Estuary, Swale and Stangate Creek.
It was a steep learning curve for us all with quite a lot of re-inventing of the wheel along the way. For example there was nobody on hand to ask how you should take Strood Pier half way through the tidal cycle with a strong ebb in the centre of the river but with a back eddy flooding along the pier itself when the wind was fresh from the east and particularly when the drainage sluices from the roadways were open next to the pier cascading tremendous quantities of water into the river after very heavy rain. You just had to get on with it and work it all out for yourself as we went along.
There were some issues in the engine room as well that season. There were occasional wrong way engine movements. Sometimes responses to the telegraph were inconsistent and slow. And on more than one occasion the engine got steam locked and stuck. Sailing past a pier with the telegraph set to full astern but with nothing happening below is never a pleasant experience for a captain. But we got there in the end. And all of us, including me, learned a huge amount about how to run a paddle steamer and keep her solvent that summer.
This is what we did in that July forty years ago:
| Friday 28th June 1985 11.00 Chatham for Gravesend 16.30 then Tilbury Landing Stage 17.15 19.20 Tilbury 19.40 Gravesend Evening charter to group of mariners Tilbury 22.40 |
| Saturday 29th June 1985 09.20 Tilbury Gravesend 09.35 10.40 Gravesend Following Thames Barge Race 12.20 off West Blythe buoy 15.00 Gravesend 15.15/16.00 Tilbury 16.15 Moored to buoy off Gravesend Esplanade |
| Sunday 30th June 1985 10.40 Gravesend buoy to Royal Terrace Pier 10.50 11.00/11.50 off cruising off the Gravesend Esplanade for the Edwardian Fair 13.00 – 17.00 One hour cruises from RTP for the fair 18.00/19.30 A/S RTP taking water then to buoy off Esplanade 19.45 |
| Monday 1st July 1985 Wind SW Light Sunny 09.45 slipped Gravesend buoy 10.00 A/S Royal Terrace Pier Gravesend 11.00 A/S Tilbury Landing Stage 11.20 Tilbury up river cruise to Tower Pier 15.25 |
| Tuesday 2nd July 1985 SW Light Sunny 13.00 Tower Pier Charter with buffet to Dashwood, Brewer and Phipps to 16.00 17.20 Slip Tower Pier to overnight on buoy off West India Docks 18.20 |
| Wednesday 3rd July 1985 E Light Sunny 13.20 Slip buoy. Enter West India Docks. Berthing trials in docks. All fast Canary Wharf 16.20 |
| Saturday and Sunday 6th & 7th July 1985 SW Light Sunny 10.00 – 18.00 Short trips within West India Docks for special “Family Fun Days” |
| Monday 8th July 1985 Light Variable Sunny 06.20 Slip Canary Wharf, 07.00 Clear of West India Docks proceeding down river 11.50 off Garrison Point, 13.30 All fast Thunderbolt Pier (TP) Chatham With a steaming time of seven hours this was probably the longest trip KC had ever undertaken under her own steam up to then. |
| Wednesday 10th July 1985 W Light Sunny/Overcast 14.30 Chatham, 15.00 Strood Afternoon cruise to Darnet Ness. All fast TP 17.55 |
| Thursday 11th July 1985 Light airs. Sunny 08.00 Chatham for Southend 10.34. Trips from Southend 11.00, 14.00, 15.15 No passengers for evening cruise so slipped Southend 20.00 for Chatham 23.16 Issue with the circulating pump on return passage. |
| Friday 12th July 1985 W Light Overcast 15.30 Chatham, Afternoon cruise Chatham 18.19 19.45 Chatham Evening cruise Chatham 23.00 |
| Saturday 13th July 1985 SW Light Sunny and v hot 10.50 Chatham, 11.05 Strood Day trip Thames Estuary Cruise. 21 from PSPS Wessex Branch aboard. 17.40 Strood,18.10 Chatham |
| Sunday 14th July 1985 SW Light Sunny and v hot 14.35 Chatham, 15.00 Strood Afternoon Cruise 18.15 Chatham |
| Tuesday 16th July 1985 SW Moderate Overcast 14.30 Chatham School Cruise 16.35 Chatham |
| Wednesday 17th July 1985 SW Moderate to fresh Sunny 10.30 Chatham School cruise 12.00 Chatham 14.30 Chatham 15.00 Strood Afternoon cruise Chatham 17.50 |
| Thursday 18th July 1985 SW Moderate to fresh sun then rain heavy in afternoon 07.40 Chatham for Southend 10.20 11.00, 14.00, 15.15 Trips from Southend 16.45 Evening cruise cancelled due to weather. Returned to Chatham 20.00 |
| Friday 19th July 1985 SW Fresh to strong Sun followed by heavy rain 10.00 Chatham School cruise Chatham 14.00 14.30 Chatham, 15.00 Strood Afternoon cruise Chatham 18.00 20.00 Chatham Evening cruise Chatham 23.00 |
| Saturday 20th July 1985 SW Moderate to fresh sun 10.30 Chatham, 11.00 Strood Cruise down Medway and into the Swale & Stangate Creek Chatham 18.00 |
| Sunday 21st July 1985 SW Moderate to fresh sun 09.40 Chatham 10.00 Strood Charter to City of Rochester Society organised by Bob Ratcliffe up to the Medway Motorway Bridge and then down to Stangate Creek 18.50 Chatham |
| Monday 22nd July 1985 SW Moderate to fresh dull with rain 10.05 Chatham School cruise Chatham 11.15 17.00 Chatham Charter to local group 18.05 Chatham |
| Tuesday 23rd July 1985 SW Moderate to fresh dull 10.45 Chatham Charter to J P Knight into the Swale 18.00 Chatham |
| Wednesday 24th July 1985 SW Moderate to fresh dull 10.30 Chatham 10.45 Strood 11.40 Strood Charter to Invicta Radio Chatham 16.00 |
| Thursday 25th July 1985 E Moderate poor visibility less than half a mile clearing later 08.00 Chatham for Southend 10.30 11.00, 14.00, 15.15 & 20.00 Trips from Southend 21.15 Chatham 22.45 |
| Friday 26th July 1985 SW Moderate to fresh sun 14.30 Chatham 15.00 Strood Afternoon cruise Chatham 17.50 20.00 Chatham Jazz Jamboree 23.00 Chatham |
| Saturday 27th July 1985 SW Moderate to fresh sun 10.40 Chatham 11.00 Strood Day trip out into Thames Estuary Chatham 17.20 Chloride level showing on the high side in boiler. To be investigated |
| Sunday 28th July 1985 SW Moderate some sun with cklouds 14.30 Chatham, 1500 Strood Afternoon cruise Chatham 18.00 |
| Monday 29th July 1985 SW Light sun 14,30 Chatham Coach party for afternoon cruise Chatham 17.00 Engineers from Dover ferries aboard to give advice |
| Wednesday 31st July 1985 SW Moderate sun 14.30 Chatham, 1500 Strood Afternoon cruise Chatham 18.00 |
One of the issues for these little jaunts away from our Chatham base to Gravesend and London was that KC has never had any crew accommodation. She did have a captain’s cabin in her earlier days on the Dart but captain’s cupboard would have been amore accurate description of it as it was not big enough to take a bunk. So for sleeping we all had to doss down on the saloon seats or deck and use sleeping bags.
In those early days there was no hot water on tap for washing either nor any showers which was a particular issue for the engineers after days shovelling coal in a very hot engine/boiler room. Nor were there any cooking facilities to provide proper grub to keep the crew going. Plus the days away from base were sometimes very long.
As the years rolled on the world began to change. Hours of work regulations came in and after discussions with one of the predecessor bodies which became the MCA it was agreed that we just couldn’t go on like this. If we wanted to keep the crew onboard over night we would have to provide proper crew accommodation, crew washing facilities and feeding arrangements for them. And the hours which they could work would be regulated.
We thought about this long and hard but in the end felt that it would impact too much on KC’s unique charms to start turning our saloons into crew accommodation. So that was that. London and Gravesend dropped off KC’s itinerary.
By then it didn’t really impact our revenue. In the early days we really needed the cash injections from such trips to distant places to help fill our coffers but as the years rolled on and we became better established as a tourist attraction in Kent we found that we could make as much surplus of income over expenditure, if not more, by staying put and running trips just from Chatham and Rochester. The crew could go home to their own beds every night. They could have a shower at home. And they could tuck into whatever they liked for their suppers.
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
