Here is a lovely picture of Cosens’s Embassy coming into Totland Bay Pier on the Isle of Wight taken about 11.30am on Thursday 21st August 1958. Captain Rawle is on the telegraphs on the port bridge wing. Mate Eric Plater is on the wheel. Bosun Sandy Rashleigh is on the platform on the top of the port paddle box ready to throw the heaving line ashore for the stern rope. I never saw a Cosens paddle steamer in my youth use a waist rope from abaft the paddle box leading aft. They always used a spring leading ahead from forward of the paddle box. You can see a seaman standing there on the port sponson ready to handle it. Embassy has a good load aboard crowding on the promenade deck ready to go ashore. Some would take the “Combined Steamer and Motor Coach Tour” of the Isle of Wight. Some would go ashore to spend the day maybe on the beach at Totland Bay. A few stayed aboard for the direct “Morning Cruise” return to Bournemouth.
Embassy’s day had started at Poole Quay at 8am for Swanage 9am and on to Bournemouth for 9.45am before setting off at 10am for the hour and a half run to Totland Bay. She then went straight back to Bournemouth where she arrived at 1pm and lay alongside the pier until until 3.30pm when she set off for a non landing “Tea Cruise to Totland Bay”. She then picked the morning passengers up as well and left Totland at 5pm for Bournemouth where she arrived at 6.30pm, then on to Swanage for 7.15pm with her arrival back to Poole and the end of her day at 8.15pm.
This was a pretty typical schedule for Embassy in 1958 although there were some variations. For example there were no morning trips on the Sundays with her day starting at Poole Quay about 1pm. She ran to Yarmouth instead of Totland and didn’t call at Swanage outward or inward bound on Mondays and Fridays. The afternoon departure from Bournemouth back to the Isle of Wight was more usually at 2.30pm giving an hour ashore at Totland Bay or Yarmouth. The 3.30pm departure on Thursdays was to fit in with a combined steamer and motor coach tour from Sandown, Shanklin and Ventnor. The coach brought passengers across the Isle of Wight to Totland Bay where they boarded Embassy at 11.30am for two and a half hours ashore in Bournemouth. This week on Tuesday 19th August 1958 after dropping off some of her passengers at Totland Bay in the morning she carried on up the Solent to Cowes where passengers were offered two and a half hours ashore or they could have stayed aboard for a “Special Cruise to Southampton Docks to View RMS Queen Elizabeth”. And in the peak weeks there was at least one evening cruise from Bournemouth with entertainment aboard every week. On Wednesday 20th it was Embassy which offered an 8pm “Special Evening Cruise with Dancing on Deck to Charles Richards’ Band” due back at Bournemouth at 10.30pm.
Embassy was not alone at Bournemouth this season. Monarch (Captain Cook) was also there running the Swanage service with departures from Bournemouth Pier at 10.30am, 12.15pm (Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursday only), 2.15pm, 4pm and either 6pm or 6.30pm depending on the day. She also took her share of evening cruises with an “Evening Cruise Towards the Needles Lighthouse Isle of Wight) at 7pm back 9pm this week on Tuesday 19th and Thursday 21st.
Consul (Captain Defrates) also brought passengers up from Weymouth to Swanage and Bournemouth on Tuesday 19th and Thursday 21st arriving at Bournemouth around 1.30pm. She then offered a “Cruise Towards the Needles Lighthouse Isle of Wight” on each of these days at 2.30pm back 4pm before making off for Swanage and Weymouth once again at 4.15pm.
Judging by the picture of Embassy Thursday 21st August 1958 was a lovely and pretty much flat calm sort of day. Ideal paddle steamer weather. The sort of day every paddle steamer operator wishes for, hopes for and needs to pack in the punters and the revenue to balance the leaner times.
Tiny point of detail: Look at Embassy’s and Monarch’s bow in the pic and you can see the tops of the wheels for their bow rudders. I remember this being used for all astern running, even backing out from piers when strictly speaking it wasn’t absolutely essential. Consul for example didn’t have a bow rudder. But if there why not use it? After hauling in the bow rope the seaman then moved on to take the bow rudder wheel with orders being given to him from the bridge by hand signals from the captain or mate.
Tiny point of Detail 2: Take a look at the anchor arrangements for Embassy and Monarch. Embassy has hers stowed in her port hawsepipe so it could readily be dropped. Monarch has her fisherman style anchor stowed on top of the bulwark on the port side in the bow so it could readily be pushed over the side in case of need. Consul had her anchor stowed on the deck inside the bulwark so it could not be readily dropped. It first had to be lifted over the bulwark by the anchor davit.
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
