Paddle Steamer

Wed, Mar 20th 2024 at 12:40 pm - 2:00 pm

Gordon Wilson gave a fabulous picture show of many of the Steamer's adventures.

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The guest speaker was Gordon Wilson, Vice Chairman of the Paddle Steamer Preservation Society, who provided a beautifully illustrated talk on the history, current location and activities of the Waverley, the world’s last seagoing paddle steamer. In the 1800’s some 50 steamers were active in Scottish waters servicing passengers from some 56 piers. Today the Waverley, whose keel was laid in 1946, is the sole survivor. In 1973 Calmac was formed and Waverley was part of its fleet until withdrawn at the end of that year when a meeting was called to establish the future of the vessel. Waverley was gifted to the Steamer Preservation Society for the exchange of £1 provided by Calmac. A public appeal raised £100,000 for essential maintenance and repair, enabling the vessel to return to service in May 1975. Today, almost fifty years later, the vessel remains in service despite mishaps of groundings and collisions with repair bills costing over £1 million. Boilers were replaced in 2019 when the originals were found to have cracked. A successful appeal for lottery funding brought in £5 million which enabled a major rebuild to reinstate the vessel to the condition of its launch in 1947. Today Waverley is based again on the Clyde, close to the location of its original construction. Its crew of thirty take it all around the UK to service the demand from passengers for a historic journey on this iconic seagoing paddle steamer. The vote of thanks to the speaker met with hearty applause from an appreciative audience.