Waverley Painting takes pride of place in Greenock Town Hall

Artist Ted Marle's painting of Waverley in Garvel Dry Dock now hangs in Greenock Town Hall.

Read the whole article on Inverclyde Now here.

Gavin Stewart

Rails & Sails 2009 - Glasgow Museum of Transport

This weekend the branch will attend the annual Rails & Sails event held at the Glasgow Museum of Transport.

Come out of the cold and into the Museum of Transport this January and enjoy a weekend of hands-on family fun.Have a go at model boating with the Richmond Model Boat Club’s big indoor pond.Or what about a ride on the Paisley Society of Model Engineers’ miniature steam railway?There are lots of fun activities during our Rails and Sails weekend, and they are all free!

The branch stand will be upstairs near the Bicycle Area - come along and see us!!

Saturday 24 January, 10am to 4pm
Sunday 25 January 11am to 4pm

Admission is Free.

Gavin Stewart

Willing Volunteers - Chairman's Blog No 7

(Words Stuart Mears, Pics John MacFarlane & Chris Hendry)

Gavin, my Jiminy Cricket for writing articles for the Blog has been pestering…..err…..motivating me to write a wee article on winter work parties on Waverley, specifically the first party of the season which was last Saturday.
My first thought was “How would I know what went on? I spent my time inside one of the boilers!” however, here goes.

It’s a strange fact of life that whilst most people see less of their fellow Waverley nutters during the winter season, those of us who attend the winter work parties sometimes see less of each other during the summer. So, as I got out of my car at the science centre in Glasgow on a fairly dreich (look it up if you don’t know!) Saturday morning at it was good to bump into Frank and Jim who had also just arrived and I hadn’t seen since the previous winter. On making our way up the gangway onto an apparently deserted ship, after a couple of abortive attempts we found the unlocked door and made our way below decks where we could here chatter from the dining saloon. The ship was decidedly chilly as both boilers are currently shut down and opened up for survey. Sadly the noise we could hear in the distance was not that of an industrial heater but rather, an industrial vacuum being used by the team from Merkland Tank who were already beavering away in the boiler room.

A quick coffee in the dining saloon ensued whilst we all caught up and wished each other happy new year. Gordon Reid, our Chief Engineer and work party project manager then began to dole out the first jobs.

At the mention of removing some blowdown pipework from within the starboard boiler I must unconsciously have registered some degree of interest as I soon found myself cursing those Christmas Mince Pies as I lowered myself through the access point into the boiler.

Shelagh Holt soon followed and as I hammered and clanged away at one end of the Boiler, Shelagh began preparing the internal welds on the boiler shell for forthcoming Non Destructive Testing. For those of you with more sense than to have clambered into a boiler, it’s quite a strange experience. Despite being completely surrounded by the thick boiler shell plating, voices still occasionally waft their way in from outside in decidedly ghost like manner, and any hammer work results in echoing reverberations round the boiler like some strange Tibetan gong or the start of Rank Movie gone horribly wrong! And as Shelagh will testify, masks or not, the dust still gets up your nose!

Elsewhere on the ship, jobs of all shapes and sizes were getting underway. There really is always something for everyone. Feed pump valves were being lapped, furnace refractory lining was being cleaned up, doors being attended to by our volunteer carpenter, dining saloon windows being refurbished, etc etc etc etc whilst Gordon kept a watchful eye on us all.

At lunchtime we all convened in the crew mess with our various versions of a packed lunch. As is rapidly becoming a tradition, Jim brought one of his home made chocolate creations. Estimates are that it packs about 1000calories per square inch, but very very tasty at that. Strangely, it seemed even more difficult to get back into the boiler after sampling the above noted creation!
After a quick work party photograph we were back at it. Well, most of us because I had to leave in the afternoon, but I can assure you as I made my way down the gangway I could still hear the noise of volunteer industriousness, saving the company pounds by the minute.

Make no mistake about it, this year more than ever, the cost savings realised by volunteer effort are more vital than ever. At the end of the day, it’s enjoyable, rewarding, good fun in good company. So, come along and help why don’t you? You will also have the benefit of seeing some part of the ship during the summer that you worked on and quietly thinking to yourself, “I did that!” I promise you that even after nearly thirty years of doing this, that’s one particular reward that has yet to wear thin for me.

Stuart Mears

Volunteer Work Parties on Waverley

Yes, its that time of the year again - time to begin the process of getting our old ship ready to sail in 2009!

Work parties start on board Waverley at her berth adjacent to Glasgow Science Centre tomorrow at 10am. Car parking is via the Science Centre - you will be given a token at the end of the day to allow you to exit.

You dont have to be PSPS member to get involved - just turn up! See photo above......

For more details see the brief fact sheet below - please be aware that this fact sheet is a PSPS Scotland document not an official Waverley Excursions document.

We look forward to seeing you on board!!

Gavin

Membership Fees Revised for 2009

As of 1st January 2009 the Society have increased the membership rates:

Please refer to top left hand side column for the new rates. This is the first rate increase for around 10 years and is required to meet the ever increasing costs of running the society thus ensuring that we can still deliver value for money!

2009 is the 50th Anniversary of the founding of the PSPS and is also the 40th Anniversary of the creation of the Scottish Branch so there is a lot to celebrate this year.

Watch this space!!!

Happy New Year to all

Here's hoping that 2009 will bring some much needed sunshine and great passenger numbers to support the continued operation of our favourite ships.




A festive paddle steamer shot from Lake Lucerne with Santa climbing into the paddlebox of the former paddle steamer Wilhelm Tell which is now operated as a static restaurant.

Charles McCrossan