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Excursion Ships of the North West
This page is devoted to postcards and photographs of miscellaneous excursion ships of the North West coastal areas of England and Wales, with the emphasis on Blackpool.
An alphabetical list of ships
shown on this page is shown below.
The Table
beneath gives links to complete history pages on selected individual ships. Below the table is a
Ships List
in chronological order. In general, ships from major ferry and railway companies are not shown on this page unless based locally - there are
links to the major company pages
.
Excursion Ships of the North West
The majority of sea excursions taken from the Lancashire and North Wales coast resorts were with the two dominant companies in the area, the
Isle of Man Steam Packet Co (IOMSPCo)
and the
Liverpool & North Wales Steamship Co (L&NWSS)
. Apart from the
Tynwald
and
Snowdon
, briefly based at Blackpool, these companies have their own pages. The major railway companies,
Furness Railway
,
Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway
and
Midland Railway
operated a network of ferry services across the Irish Sea, and all also operated local excursion ships. The area was also covered by a network of passenger services run by
Coast Lines
. Due to the dominance of these major ferry companies, it is not surprising that no other major local excursion operators, such as
Cosens
on the South Coast, or
P&A Campbell
on the Bristol Channel, were ever established in the area.
Blackpool Excursion Steamers
Blackpool had the largest number of local vessels, which used the first of its three piers, the North Pier, built in 1863. Steamers were operated from the pier from the start, initially by the pier owners, and later the North Pier Steamship Co. Vessels included the
Ocean Bride
of 1858,
Clifton
of 1871
, Queen of the Bay (1)
of 1867 and the
Queen of the Bay (2)
of 1871. William Allsup supplied the
Wellington
to the South Blackpool Jetty Co in 1871, followed by the
Nelson
in 1875.
Nelson
was sold in 1883 to Samuel Little who operated her between Newport & Cardiff. The South Blackpool Jetty Co was acquired by the Blackpool Passenger Steamboat Co in in 1894, and
Wellington
remained in the fleet until c.1911.
The fleet was joined by the
Belle
in 1895, and the
Greyhound
, the finest of the Blackpool paddle steamers. She was joined by the twin-screw steamer
Deerhound
in 1901.
Other early steamers included the
Dhu Heartach
(W.H.Cocker: 1875-1884) and the
Bickerstaffe
(1879-1928).
Bickerstaffe
was joined by the similar, but larger
Queen of the North
in 1895.
Bickerstaffe
and
Queen of the North
were owned by J.Bickerstaffe, who formed the Blackpool Passenger Steamboat Co in 1894. The Blackpool Passenger Steamboat Co took over the South Blackpool Jetty Co in 1894 and the North Pier Steamship Co fleet in 1905, giving them a monopoly in the resort. The
Deerhound
was sold soon afterwards, leaving the fleet as
Bickerstaffe
,
Queen of the North
,
Belle
,
Wellington
and
Greyhound
until the start of the war (apart from
Wellington
sold 1911). Only the
Queen of the North
was lost in the war, but
Belle
and
Greyhound
were sold in 1921 and 1923, leaving just the long-lived
Bickerstaffe
to continue until 1928, latterly under the name of H.D.Bickerstaffe (to whom the Blackpool Passenger Steamboat Co passed to c.1923).
Robina
was chartered to the Blackpool Passenger Steamboat Co in 1919, to the Blackpool Steam Shipping Co in 1923 and H.D.Bickerstaffe in 1924.
The
IOMSPCo
tried the elderly
Tynwald
at Blackpool in 1929, but she did not return and was laid up the following year. The
L&NWSS
then brought their elderly
Snowdon
during the illuminations in 1930. Again she did not return, and again she was withdrawn the following year. It was was 1933 before a ship was based at Blackpool again when Blackpool Pleasure Steamers Ltd (later Blackpool Steam Navigation Co) brought the Mersey ferry
Minden
to the resort. They later acquired the
Queen of the Bay (2)
and the
Atalanta
, although 1937 was the only year when all three steamers were in the fleet. None of these vessels reappeared after the Second World War, but Blackpool Steam Navigation Co (1947) was formed out of the old company, and used the Fairmile launch
Pendennis
until 1961. Since then,
Waverley
and
Balmoral
have made occasional calls.
Morecambe Excursion Steamers
One of the earliest steamers in the area was the
Helvellyn
, owned by the
Furness Railway
. Others included the paddle steamer
Morecambe Queen (1)
, and the
Queen of the Bay (1)
, which moved to Blackpool. The Morecambe Steamboat Co had the twin-screw steamers
Morecambe Queen (2)
,
Sunbeam
and
Britannia
, plus the paddle steamer
Roses
. The twin screw steamer
Britannia
operated with the Morecambe Steamboat Co between 1888-1904. She was later renamed
Duke of Abercorn
, and served at Dublin, Southend and with David MacBrayne. From 1908, excursions were offered from adjacent port Heysham by the
Midland Railway
on their tug
Wyvern
. The Clyde steamer
Isle of Bute
ran for a short while in 1912, but was damaged against against a pier and was scrapped in 1913. Her place was taken by the
Robina
, which built in Ardrossan for the Morecambe Central Pier Co in 1914. She was registered for them until 1922, when she was transferred to W.A.& P.Cordingly. In 1919,
Robina
was chartered to the Blackpool Passenger Steamboat Co, and the following year for Bristol Channel service. This was followed by charters to the Blackpool Steam Shipping Co in 1923 and H.D.Bickerstaffe in 1924.
Robina
was sold in 1925.
Fleetwood Excursion Steamers
Shipping services from
Fleetwood
are covered on the
Fleetwood
page. The Fleetwood-Knott End ferries, which crossed the River Wyre, are covered on the
Fleetwood Ferries
page.
Sir Peter Hesketh, founder of
Fleetwood
, owned three former Clyde steamers,
Cupid, Express
and
James Dennistoun
, in the 1840s. There were brief services from
Fleetwood
to Scotland from 1847-1851 whilst through rail links were still being built. The fleet of the Barrow SN Co, which also ran from
Fleetwood
, later became part of the
Midland Railway
, and is covered on that page. Fleetwood became a major port for services to Ireland, which started in 1843, and were later run by the
Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway
(jointly with the LNWR). They maintained the excursion steamer
Lune
at Fleetwood from 1892-1913.
The
Furness Railway
was a relatively minor English railway company, which founded its early prosperity on the carriage of iron ore. As this traffic declined towards the end of the 19th Century, the Company sought to increase the tourist passenger traffic to the English Lake District, the area in which its trains operated. In 1900 they introduced a passenger ferry service across Morecambe Bay, between Barrow and
Fleetwood
. There were tram connections onwards from
Fleetwood
to Blackpool. This service operated successfully, using a total of four paddle steamers, until the outbreak of war in 1914. The service was not revived after the war. These ships are covered on the
Furness Railway
page.
The
Isle of Man Steam Packet Co (IOMSPCo)
ran summer services to Douglas from
Fleetwood
, frequently using their newest and best steamers, some built for the route. The most popular excursion for visitors to Fleetwood was always a day trip to the Isle of Man. Norwest Hovercraft services from Fleetwood to Douglas will be covered on a future page, currently under construction.
Preston Excursion Steamers
Excursion services from Preston were never very successful, although Blackpool steamers often ran from there during the annual Wakes holiday weeks. The Ribble Passenger Transport Co had two vessels named
Ribble Queen
based in Preston. The
Ribble Queen (1)
was a twin-screw steamer built in 1903, which was used between 1903-1905. The second attempt came in 1922, when the 1896-built paddle steamer
Ribble Queen (2)
was tried until 1925. She had previously been the
Cloghmore
and
Greenore
.
North Wales Excursion Steamers
The
Liverpool & North Wales Steamship Co (L&NWSS)
and its competitors are covered on their own pages. The River Conway steamers of the St George Steam Packet Company will be covered on a future page, currently under construction.
In December 1934, MacBrayne's
Fusilier
was sold to The Cambrian Shipping Company, and she appeared as
Lady Orme
at Llandudno in June 1935. She ran short excursions to the Menai Straits, filling a gap left by the
Liverpool & North Wales Steamship Co
following the departure of the small paddle steamer
Snowdon (2)
in 1931, not filled until the
St Silio
(later
St Trillo (2)
) arrived in 1936.
Lady Orme
was not a success however, and she spent the following year at Ramsgate. 1937 found a further return to Llandudno, for the Ormes Cruising Company.
Lady Orme
ran short morning, afternoon and evening cruises during July, August and September. In her final season of 1938, she repeated the pattern of cruises, but as the
Crestawave
for John H.Oliver. This lasted only until August of the same year, when she was sold for breaking up.
Mersey Excursion Steamers
The famous Mersey ferries will be covered on a series of future web pages, currently under construction. The
Jubilee Queen
was acquired in November 1935 by the Mersey & Blackpool Steamship Company, for a short-lived service from Liverpool to New Brighton, Blackpool and Fleetwood as the
Jubilee Queen
. The service operated from Easter 1936 until June only. In July
Jubilee Queen
was transferred to the Jubilee Shipping Company who also ran a few trips from Liverpool to Blackpool, but this was even more short-lived than the previous venture. the colours at this time were black hull, white saloons and a yellow funnel with red band and black top. At the end of July,
Jubilee Queen
was acquired by S.B.Kelly, and on 9th August initiated a service from Barrow to Blackpool and/or Fleetwood (when tidal conditions prevented access to Blackpool North Pier). In practice the calls at Blackpool ceased the following day, and subsequent trips were all to Fleetwood, the last being on 13th September.
Jubilee Queen
was sold for scrap in 1937.
Manchester Ship Canal Excursion Steamers
The Manchester Ship Canal was opened in 1893, and a large number of vessels were brought to start cruises along its length. These included the
Falmouth Castle
, former Clyde steamers
Eagle
and
Shandon
(as
Daniel Adamson
),
Manx Fairy, Fairy Queen
(From Douglas), and the
John Stirling
from the Forth. In 1894 they were joined by the large chartered Clyde steamer
Ivanhoe
, as shown in the postcard below. Smaller boats included the
Irlam
,
Mode Wheel
and
Annie
, the latter later serving at Maldon for cruises to Osea Island. None of the services were profitable, and all vessels moved on to further employment elsewhere.
Ships on This Page:-
Annie
- Excursions on the Manchester Ship Canal
Atalanta
- Excursions from Blackpool
Belle
- Excursions from Blackpool
Bickerstaffe
- Excursions from Blackpool
Britannia
- Excursions from Morecambe
Crestawave
- Excursions from Llandudno in 1935 and 1937
Greyhound
- Excursions from Blackpool
Ivanhoe
- Excursions on the Manchester Ship Canal
Jubilee Queen
- Excursions from Liverpool to Blackpool in 1935-1936
Lady Orme
- Excursions from Llandudno in 1935 and 1937
Lune
-
LYR/LNWR
- Excursions from Fleetwood to Blackpool & Morecambe
Minden
- Excursions from Blackpool
Nelson
- Excursions from Blackpool
Queen of the Bay (2)
- Excursions from Blackpool
Queen of the North
- Excursions from Blackpool
Robina
- Excursions from Blackpool and Morecambe
Snowdon (2)
-
L&NWSS
- Excursions from Blackpool in 1930
Sunbeam
- Excursions from Morecambe
Tynwald (3)
-
IOMSPCo
- Excursions from Blackpool to Douglas (IOM) in 1929
Wyvern
-
Midland Railway/LMS
- Excursions from Heysham to Fleetwood etc
North West Companies Running Excursions:-
Coast Lines
- Passenger services from Liverpool and Heysham to Ireland.
Furness Railway
- Barrow-Fleetwood service with paddle steamers.
IOMSPCo
- Isle of Man Steam Packet Company.
Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway
- Fleetwood-Ireland Services
L&NWSS
- Liverpool & North Wales Steamship Company
London Midland & Scottish Railway
- Heysham-Belfast Services
Midland Railway
- Heysham-Belfast & Heysham-Douglas Services
Associated Pages:-
Fleetwood
- Shipping Services from the port.
UK Excursion Ships
Ferry Postcards
Cruise Ship Postcards
Ocean Liner Postcards
Simplon Postcards Home Page
References:-
British Pleasure Steamers 1920-1939
by Geoffrey Grimshaw
Lancashire Coast Pleasure Steamers
by Andrew Gladwell
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Table of Ship Histories
Name
Other names
Built
Tynwald (3)
1891
North West Excursion Ships
Nelson
(South Blackpool Jetty Co: 1875-1883)
Dim 140’0” x 19’8” x 9’0” draft. Grt 190t. Official No.69709.
Yard No.27. Built May 1875 by William Allsup at Preston for South Blackpool Jetty Co. Ltd., and fitted with an 80 Nhp steam engine she was used as an excursion steamer at Blackpool. Around 1883 she was sold to Samuel Little who operated her between Newport & Cardiff. In 1886 she was acquired by the Bristol Channel Steam Towing & Firing Co. Ltd., who used her extensively for towing, however within a year she had been sold again this time to be used as a pleasure steamer operating out of Plymouth. She never actually sailed from there because she was chartered by Hastings St.Leonards & Eastbourne Steamboat Co. who used her for excursions out of Hastings. She was sold to Mr Collard of Hastings for South Coast excursion work and was acquired by A.T.C.L. on 3rd June 1892 for a figure of £1600.00 she was immediately chartered back to Mr Collard. A.T.C.L. sold her to Mr J.H.Williams of Manchester in June 1894 for double her purchase price. She was sold some time later to Belgian owners who used her for excursions from Blankenberge up until 1919. Her ultimate fate is unknown.
(supplied by Mark Butler)
The
Nelson
at Blankenberge
Click to open larger image in new window
Bickerstaffe
(Blackpool: 1879-1928)
Bickerstaffe
was built for John Bickerstaffe in 1879, and served at Blackpool for almost fifty years. She passed to the Blackpool Passenger Steamboat Company in 1895, then back to Harold Bickerstaffe in 1922. She was broken up in 1928.
Bickerstaffe
was mainly used for local excursions from Blackpool, known for her afternoon sailing being timed to coincide with the closing time of the local public houses.
G.W.H. (Blackpool) postcard of
Bickerstaffe
, posted September 1909.
Postcard of
Bickerstaffe
.
Advance postcard 503 of
Bickerstaffe
, with the Blackpool coat of arms, posted August 1908.
Photographic postcard of
Bickerstaffe.
Photographic postcard of
Bickerstaffe.
Sunbeam
(Morecambe: 1885-1909 - 85 grt)
The screw steamer
Sunbeam
served at Morecambe for the Morecambe Steamboat Co between 1885-1909.
Photographic postcard of
Sunbeam
, apparently on the Thames (Southend?).
Britannia
(Morecambe: 1888-1904 - 144 grt)
The twin screw steamer
Britannia
was built for J.Brown, Robert Birkett and R.Wilson of Lancaster in 1888, and served at Morecambe for their Morecambe Steamboat Co until 1904.
Britannia
ran excurions to Fleetwood and Blackpool plus local trips. She then served in Dublin for Duke Shipping Co and was renamed
Duke of Abercorn
. She ran aground on Dalkey Island in 1910, but was refloated on the next tide. In 1911 she moved to Southend for Henry Cooney's
Southend Steam Packet Co
, where she replaced the burnt out
Sunbeam
. In 1914 she was bought by
David MacBrayne
for summer excursions. She also briefly operated the Ballachulish-Kinlochleven run but her boilers were troublesome and she was sold for scrap in February 1915.
Postcard of
Duke of Abercorn
, after she left Morecambe.
Lune
(LYR/LNWR Joint: 1892-1913 - 253 grt)
The small paddle steamer
Lune
was delivered in 1892 to operate trips to Blackpool and Morecambe from Fleetwood. She was sold in 1913 to
Cosens & Co
, becoming the
Melcombe Regis
. Other L&YR/LNWR Fleetwood steamers are shown on
Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway
.
Sankey photograph of
Lune
arriving at
Fleetwood
, with the North Euston Hotel in the background.
Postcard of
Lune
off Blackpool with
Greyhound
in the background, plus an enlarged image.
Ivanhoe
(Manchester Ship Canal: 1894)
The Manchester Ship Canal was opened in 1893, and a large number of vessels were brought to start cruises along its length. These included the
Falmouth Castle
, former Clyde steamers
Eagle
and
Shandon
(as
Daniel Adamson
),
Manx Fairy, Fairy Queen
(From Douglas), and the
John Stirling
from the Forth. In 1894 they were joined by the large chartered Clyde steamer
Ivanhoe
, as shown in the postcard below. Smaller boats included the
Irlam
,
Mode Wheel
and
Annie
, the latter later serving at Maldon for cruises to Osea Island. None of the services were profitable, and all vessels moved on to further employment elsewhere.
Nuttall (Eccles) postcard of
Ivanhoe
passing Barton Aqueduct.
Annie
(Manchester Ship Canal: 1893)
The Manchester Ship Canal was opened in 1893, and
Annie
was one of a large number of vessels were brought to start cruises along its length. These included the
Falmouth Castle
, former Clyde steamers
Eagle
and
Shandon
(as
Daniel Adamson
),
Manx Fairy, Fairy Queen
(From Douglas), and the
John Stirling
from the Forth. In 1894 they were joined by the large chartered Clyde steamer
Ivanhoe
, as shown in the postcard below. Smaller boats included the
Irlam
,
Mode Wheel
and
Annie
, the latter later serving at Maldon for cruises to Osea Island. None of the services were profitable, and all vessels moved on to further employment elsewhere.
Postcard of
Annie
, whilst serving at Maldon.
Postcard of
Annie
, whilst serving at Maldon.
Postcard of
Annie
, whilst serving at Maldon.
Postcard of
Annie
, whilst serving at Maldon.
Postcard of
Annie
, whilst serving at Maldon.