Scottish Branch Winter Meetings 2013-2014

Friday 20 September 2013

Scottish Branch Winter Meetings 2013-2014

The winter syllabus for the Scottish Branch will be sent out in the next edition of Paddle Wheels but advanced notice is given below for each meeting.

Friday 18th October - S.S. Shieldhall
Graham Mackenzie, MD of The Solent Steam Packet Limited, gives an illustrated talk on the history and preservation of the former Glasgow Corporation sludge vessel.

Friday 15th November - Films of the Clyde
Bert Scott presents his films of some of the ships which graced the Clyde in bygone years.

Friday 20th December - Steamers of the Seventies
Branch Chairman Peter Reid entertains with a selection of slides from his collection, taken on the Clyde and Western Isles in the 1970s. (Joint meeting with the West Highland Steamer Club)

Saturday 28th December - Branch Festive Lunch Cruise
Festive cruise from Greenock aboard M.V. Cruiser with optional buffet lunch.

Friday 17th January- Steamers of the Sixites
Eric Schofield shares a selection of his slides taken around the Clyde in the 1960s.

Friday 21st February - P.S. Kingswear Castle
Captain John Megoran's illustrated talk on Kingswear Castle's move to the River Dart and her first season back home.

Friday 21st March - 40 years of WSN
Derek Peters, Campbell Watt and Paul Semple mark 40 years of Waverley Steam Navigation Company with anecdotes from their periods of service aboard Waverley.

Friday 25th April - Annual General Meeting
The AGM will be followed by a joint meeting with the West Highland Steamer Club at which there will be a presentation entitled "Recalling the King George" to commemorate 40 years since the withdrawal of the MacBrayne turbine steamer.

All meetings will be held at Renfield St. Stephen's Church Centre, 260 Bath Street, Glasgow, at 7.30 p.m.

Scottish Branch Committee

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.

Friday 20 September 2013