Ferries - Great Britain: books - history and types

British Paddle Steamers- The Twilight Years

In the aftermath of the Second World War, paddle steamers in Britain initially did rather well, with four new ones built between 1946 and 1953 and about sixty still in service nationwide.
By 1955 this tide of optimism had turned and from then on it was downhill all the way. In almost every subsequent year, one or two paddle steamers were withdrawn and sometimes it was as many as five or six.

By the late 1960s only a handful remained operational and, of these, all except one owed their continued existence to their usefulness as people-movers on the Clyde, Humber or Solent, rather than for excursions.
Some, like Freshwater, Princess Elizabeth, Consuland Jeanie Deans, enjoyed temporary new careers on services previously abandoned by their longstanding owners. A few like Medway Queen, Compton Castleand Caledoniabecame nightclubs, cafes or bars. Most ended up under the scrap-dealer's torch.

In this book author John Megoran, who returned the paddle steamer Kingswear Castle to service on the Medway and Thames in 1985, and was her captain and manager for nearly thirty years, explores all the excursion paddle steamers withdrawn from 1955, as well as examining the sort of cruises they ran and what happened to them in their twilight years.

Steamers and Ferries of the Northern Isles

Services from mainland Scotland to Orkney and Shetland were, from the dawn of steam navigation right up until 2002, in the hands of the North of Scotland, Orkney & Shetland Shipping Company, known as the North Company, whose predecessors dated back to 1790 and which became part of P&O Ferries in 1975.

In this book, Alistair Deayton uses his wonderful collection of photographs to tell the story of the ferries and steamers of the northern isles, including not only the North Company but its successors and competitors on the routes between mainland Scotland and the islands, including chartered vessels and wartime Ministry of War Transport ships travelling to Scapa Flow. The book also includes the inter-island ferries in both Orkney and Shetland, not forgetting the services to remote Foula and Fair Isle.

This book is a must for all those interested in the transport history of Orkney and Shetland and evokes the days when the only way to travel to the northern isles was by sea.

The Caledonian Steam Packet Company - An Illustrated History

The Caledonian Steam Packet Co. was founded in 1889 by the Caledonian Railway and in 2014 is 125 years old. It originally sailed from Gourock but came to encompass many of the Clyde coast piers and resorts, from Girvan to Argyll.
At one time in competition with the Glasgow & South Western steamers and those of the North British Railway, by 1948 and the nationalisation of the railway companies, the steamers of these companies had all come under the auspices of the Caledonian Steam Packet Co. By 1973, the fleets of David MacBrayne and the CSP were amalgamated.

The CalMac fleet comprises the third volume in this series on Clyde and West Coast steamers. This follow-up to Alistair Deayton's David MacBrayne history tells the story of the other constituent company of CalMac, whose vessels, with their blacktipped yellow funnels, once flourished on the Clyde, sailing to Ayrshire, Renfrewshire and Argyll.

The Isle of Man Steam Packet Through Time

In 2010, the world's oldest steamship line celebrated its 180th anniversary. The Isle of Man Steam Packet Co. has been the lifeline to the island, providing passenger and freight services for the island.
Almost into the twentieth century, the ships were primarily paddle steamers but screw steamers took over then. In 1962, the first ro-ro ferries arrived and by the late 1990s catamarans were being used, offering a huge increase in speed.

The ships saw service during both wars and IOMSP vessels carried about one in fourteen of all the soldiers rescued at Dunkirk. After numerous changes of owners, the IOMSP is now owned by Portuguese investment banks but continues to dominate the Irish Sea routes to the Isle of Man, despite the competition from air transport.

Ian Collard, who has written many books on the Mersey and its ships, tells the story of the Steam Packet through time.

Mersey Ferries Through Time

A Mersey ferry was recorded in the Domesday Book, and for around a thousand years, they have plied between Birkenhead and Wallasey on the Wirral and Liverpool. The sail and man-powered craft gave way to steam ferries in 1815.

In this book, Ian Collard tells the story of the Mersey ferries, concentrating on the steam and diesel powered eras from 1815 to the present day and including such famous ferries as Iris and Daffodil, which were involved in the Zeebrugge Raid of 1918.
The Mersey ferries have been immortalized in song, and even today, with the various tunnels under the Mersey, the three survivors of today, Snowdrop, Royal Iris of the Mersey and Royal Daffodil, are still being used by locals and tourists alike. Using around 160 old and new images, he tells the story of the Ferries across the Mersey, showing a river that was once teeming with ships but is now much quieter.

Ferries Across the Humber - The story of the Humber Ferries and the last coal burning paddle steamers in regular service in Britain

Starting with an introduction about discovering the coal-burning paddle steamers of the Humber in the early 1970s the book continues with a brief history of the ferries of the Humber Estuary, the coming of the first paddle steamer, the Caledonia, in 1814 and the rapid expansion of steamers operating on the estuary

It includes personal memories of those who worked on, used and loved the Humber ferries. It especially looks at the paddle steamers, Tattershall Castle, Wingfield Castle and Lincoln Castle, which became the last coal-burning paddle steamers operating a regular service in the United Kingdom.

An appendix lists over 80 paddle steamers from the Caledonia of 1814 to the last of the line the Lincoln Castle identified as working on the Humber Estuary from published and archive sources.
It includes the diesel powered paddle vessel Farringford which saw out the service in 1981 and also other vessels associated with the Hull to New Holland ferry.

Waverley Steam Navigation Company

On 8 August 1974, the world's last seagoing paddle steamer was sold by her owners for the princely sum of a pound. The PS Waverley has now spent more of her career in preservation than in service with the British Transport Commission and Caledonian MacBrayne. She is still a common sight on the Clyde, Bristol Channel, the Thames and around Britain's coastline.

Purchased by members of the Paddle Steamer Preservation Society, many millions have been spent on Waverley in the intervening years to keep her in tiptop condition. Originally built for service on the Firth of Clyde, the Waverley is the most travelled paddle steamer in the world and one of the most successful of all the restored tourist ships that still survive.
Formed upon preservation, Waverley Steam Navigation Company was created to operate the Waverley and, subsequently, the Balmoral, and has successfully operated the two vessels over the past four decades.

Nowadays, after a huge lottery-funded restoration, Waverley is capable of sailing for another ten or twenty years, giving pleasure to many thousands per annum on her voyages around Britain's coast.
Alistair Deayton is an acknowledged expert on West Coast steamers. His book tells the whole story of the Waverley Steam Navigation Company.