PARADE OF PADDLERS

Visiting paddle steamers over the years

By Derek Longly

At the time British Railways ran the ferries around the British Isles they would send many of their ships to Newhaven Marine Workshops, with their iconic sheerlegs, for annual maintenance.

Amongst these would be the paddle steamers that served the Isle of Wight from Portsmouth and Lymington, prettiest of which perhaps was the little Freshwater from the Lymington route.  She also returned to Newhaven much later when in service as the excursion ship Sussex Queen.

There were also other visiting excursion paddlers from time to time with the Glen Gower of P & A Campbell being the most regular of these to call in the summer season.

I was lucky enough to see many of these vessels at the time and the photos will no doubt bring memories of them back to others.  The shot of Glen Gower was unfortunately taken with a poor quality camera but is included as it is the only view of her I have.