Pleasure Steamers - Great Britain: Books - History

Turbine Excursion Steamers - A History

In 1897, a revolutionary new type of ship blasted its way through the Royal Review at an unprecedented 30+ knots. This small vessel, still extant in Newcastle, was the Turbinia, and she was powered by the world's first marine steam turbine. Developed by Charles Parsons, in one fell swoop she revolutionised sea travel. She was the first turbine steamer. Economical and fast, the turbine steamer was soon to revolutionise ferries and pleasure steamers, as well as huge ocean liners and the mightiest of battleships. The turbine not only promised speed, economy and reliability, it delivered these qualities too.

Our story looks at the turbine pleasure steamers in coastal and short-sea service and it covers the first passenger steam turbine vessels on the Clyde, as well as the Irish Sea and South Coast of England as well as the German turbine pleasure steamers. From the ships of Williamson-Buchanan to the Isle of Man and cross channel ferries, the turbine revolutionised short sea transport. Alistair Deayton and Iain Quinn look at the development of the turbine steamer for pleasure use, concentrating on the ships that served the Clyde, Irish Sea and the short sea crossings in the English Channel.
Ships of the Isle of Man Steam Packet, Williamson-Buchanan, Caledonian Steam Packet, General Steam Navigation Co., David MacBrayne and the Liverpool & North Wales Steam Ship Co. are covered in depth in this book, which tells the story of the turbine excursion steamer over the century and a bit since the first revolutionary turbine pleasure steamer made its maiden voyage on the Clyde at the dawn of the Edwardian era.

Passenger Steamers of the River Conwy - Serving the Famous Trefriw Spa

With the blossoming of Victorian tourism in the 1840s, the beautiful Conwy Valley in North Wales, with its healthy climate and picturesque scenery, became immensely popular.

The rediscovery and development of an ancient chalybeate mineral well led to the transformation of the quiet village of Trefriw into a major spa resort to which health-seeking visitors flocked, travelling on board a unique fleet of charming pleasure steamers, which quickly established themselves as an essential part of the Welsh tourist experience.

This absorbing book traces the colourful but largely forgotten chapter in British maritime and social history: the rise and fall of both the steamer trade on the River Conwy and of Trefriw as a fashionable spa.

Pleasure Steamers of the Yorkshire Coast

For over 150 years, pleasure steamers and paddle steamers operated on day trips from the Yorkshire coastal resorts, sailing from Scarborough, Whitby and Bridlington up and down the coast, giving the day tripper a taste of life aboard in exchange for a few shillings.

From the Bilsdale, Frenchman, Yorkshireman, Coronia and the other steamers that served the Yorkshire Coast, Andrew Gladwell presents a unique glimpse of these tourist steamers at the peak of their careers in the period from the 1900s to the 1960s. He tells the story of the pleasure steamers that once plied these waters, using many rare and previously unpublished images of the ships and the resorts they served.
Learn of the musicians that would once perform aboard, see the steamers cruising the dramatic coastline and learn about the paddle and pleasure steamer captains and crew that worked the Yorkshire coast.

London's Pleasure Steamers

For generations of Londoners, a trip to the seaside aboard a pleasure steamer such as the Royal Eagle, Golden Eagle or Royal Daffodil was the highlight of the year and these 'Poor Man's Liners' were part of childhood and family life for huge numbers of people.
The tradition went back to the 1820s when the first commercial paddle steamers entered service and the advent of paid holidays for the masses saw a huge rise in the numbers of pleasure steamers and passengers using them. The steamers went from London to resorts on the Kent and Essex coasts, from Gravesend to Southend, from Clacton to Ramsgate and Margate.

Both piers and steamers evolved into glorious reflections of the Victorian age, but in the twentieth century things changed again as there was more competition on the river. A brief boom came in the years following the Second World War but in the mid-1960s London's pleasure steamer heritage ground to a halt before services started again during the late 1970s.
Andrew Gladwell, archivist of the Paddle Steamer Preservation Society, takes us on a journey on the paddle steamers that once plied the Thames from London.

North Wales Pleasure Steamers

Pleasure steamer cruises along the scenic North Wales coast from Liverpool disappeared some fifty years ago. The outstanding beauty of North Wales and in particular the Menai Straits and Anglesey, was in its day, one of the most outstanding and scenic areas of the UK for enjoying the simple pleasure of taking a pleasure steamer cruise.
There was no finer grandstand to enjoy such a day as on one of the well-loved and stylish steamers of the Liverpool & North Wales Steamship Company of the 1950s and 1960s: St Trillo, St Seiriol and St Tudno.

Services between Liverpool and North Wales had their origin as far back as 1821. North Wales like so many other areas around the UK, saw services expand and change during the Victorian era. The 1920s witnessed the entry into service of smart new steamers such as the St Tudno of 1926. The services were lost in the 1960s but the Waverley and Balmoral still ply these waters today, giving the modern day tripper an experience of time's past.

This book takes the reader back to the times when steamers offered passengers a few hours at the seaside or enabled them to sample scenery away from that seen in everyday life of the industrial north of England.