Waverley and Queen Victoria

Monday 8 November 2010

Waverley and Queen Victoria

Excellent Gerry Ward video of Waverley escorting the Queen Victoria on the Cunarder's first Visit to Clydeside in July 2010. The Queen Victoria's arrival on the Clyde kindled memories of a story related to the first Cunard Queen, the Clydebank-built Queen Mary. Prior to her all of Cunard's transatlantic liners had borne names ending with the letters 'ia' e.g. Britannia, Caledonia, Lusitania, etc. It is believed that they had selected the name 'Victoria' for John Brown's yard number 534 and asked HM King George V permission to name the vessel after 'the greatest Queen that England had ever known' (not actually using the name 'Victoria' in their request. It is related that the King's reply was along the lines of 'My wife will be delighted' and the Cunard directors felt obliged to accept the result of their ambiguity The story has never been fully validated and it has been doubted by commentators. After the building of the first Queen Elizabeth, Cunard returned to their original 'ia' style of nomenclature with the Caronia of 1947 and the Saxonia quartette in the 1950s. However, they have not used for over half a century

See Gerry's other excellent pictures and videos at

Gerry Ward's ' River Clyde Photography'

Stuart Cameron

The Society

The Paddle Steamer Preservation Society (PSPS) is Britain's longest established, largest and most successful steamship preservation group.
A registered charity founded in 1959, we have over 3000 members and through our associated charitable companies we operate the only two working paddle steamers in Great Britain.
Without the PSPS there would no longer be the opportunity to sail on a Paddle Steamer in Great Britain.

Our aims
i) to preserve paddle steamers in sailing condition
ii) to educate the public in the historic significance of paddle steamers in the Nation's maritime and industrial heritage
iii) to acquire, preserve and exhibit a collection of equipment and material associated with paddle steamers.

Our Ships

Flagship of our fleet is Waverley the last sea-going paddle steamer in the world. Built in 1947 Waverley was gifted to the Society for just £1. As well as operating on her native Clyde each summer she visits other coastal areas around the UK during the spring and autumn each year.

Kingswear Castle is Britain's only operational coal-fired paddle steamer. Built in 1924 to sail on the River Dart she was purchased by the Society in 1967. From 1985 until 2012 she sailed the Thames and Medway. In 2013 Kingswear Castle returned to the Dart where she now operates public sailings during the summer season.

The society is composed of five branches: Scottish, London & Home Counties, Bristol Channel, Wessex & Dart and North England - all of which help raise money to keep our paddle steamers sailing.

The Scottish Branch

The Scottish Branch was formed in 1969 by Douglas McGowan, now our Honorary Branch President. In November 1973 Douglas was invited to attend a meeting with CalMac which resulted in Paddle Steamer Waverley being gifted to the PSPS for £1! It was then on 8th August 1974 that the PSPS took ownership of the last sea-going paddle steamer in the world and her second career in preservation had begun. Since 1974 the Scottish Branch has been directly linked to supporting Waverley.

The Scottish Branch is proud of its achievements. We are an active and forward thinking branch with a thriving membership of over 800 - we are proud to be the branch which secured an operational future for Waverley. Our members are regularly involved with voluntary work which helps ensure Waverley continues to sail. During the summer sailing season we help raise funds through the Society's Grand Draw and our annual fundraising cruise on Waverley. The Branch meets in Glasgow each month during the non-sailing season (October - April) and we extend an invitation to join the Society and indeed join the Scottish Branch.

Monday 8 November 2010